Apertured webs and methods for making the same

ABSTRACT

A disposable absorbent article having a topsheet, a backsheet, and an absorbent core disposed therebetween is described. The topsheet has an array of apertures forming apertured indicia. The array of apertures includes a first plurality of apertures having a first aspect ratio; a second plurality of apertures having a second aspect ratio and a first Absolute Feret Angle; and a third plurality of apertures having a third aspect ratio and a second Absolute Feret Angle, wherein the first Absolute Feret Angle and the second Absolute Feret Angle are different, and wherein the first aspect ratio is less than the second and third aspect ratios.

FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to apertured webs and methodsfor making the same. The apertured webs are particularly suited for usein disposable absorbent articles, such as diapers, adult incontinenceproducts, training pants, feminine hygiene products, wipes, dustingsubstrates, cleaning substrates, and any other suitable consumerproducts.

BACKGROUND

Apertured webs are sometimes useful in disposable absorbent products andother consumer products. These apertured webs typically have uniformlysized and shaped circular or ovate apertures throughout their area. Thecircular or ovate apertures are also typically uniformly spaced in thecross machine direction and in the machine direction with respect toeach other. These uniform aperture patterns provide webs that have thesame amount of fluid penetration and/or absorbency throughout their areaowing to the uniform circular or ovate aperture designs. Furthermore,land areas (i.e., non-apertured portions) in these apertured webstypically have the same size, shape, orientation, and spacing withrespect to each other. While such uniform apertured webs may bedesirable in some applications, other applications would benefit fromaperture patterns that combine a plurality of apertures into arrays andthat create non-uniformly sized, shaped, and/or spaced land areas.Additionally, other features in conjunction with or independent fromaperture patterns would be beneficial.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing outand distinctly claiming the subject matter which is regarded as formingthe present invention, it is believed that the invention will be betterunderstood from the following description which is taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings in which the designations are used todesignate substantially identical elements and in which:

FIGS. 1-4 are photographs of portions of example single layer aperturedwebs in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of a cross-sectional view of aapertured web having two layers, with one layer being apertured and theother layer being non-apertured in accordance with the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of a cross-sectional view of aapertured web having two layers, with both layers being apertured andwith the apertures in the layers being aligned in accordance with thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of a cross-sectional view of aapertured web having two layers, with both layers being apertured andwith the apertures in one layer being fully overlapped by land areas inthe other layer in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a schematic representation of a cross-sectional view of aapertured web having two layers, with both layers being apertured andwith the apertures in one layer being partially overlapped by land areasin the other layer in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a schematic representation of a cross-sectional view of aapertured web having two layers, with a first apertured layer and asecond non-apertured layer and with printing or ink on one of the layersin accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a schematic representation of a cross-sectional view of aapertured web having two layers, with a first apertured layer and asecond non-apertured layer and with a colored adhesive on one of thelayers or positioned intermediate the layers in accordance with thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a schematic representation of an example process forproducing the apertured webs of the present disclosure in accordancewith the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a web weakening arrangement of FIG. 11in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a photograph of an exemplary roller that can be used asroller 110 in the weakening arrangement of FIG. 12 in accordance withthe present disclosure;

FIG. 14 is a photograph of an example apertured web produced using theroller of FIG. 13 in the weakening arrangement in accordance with thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 15 is a photograph of an example apertured web produced using aweakening arrangement in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 16 is a photograph of an example apertured web produced using aweakening arrangement in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of an incremental stretching system of theprocess of FIG. 11 in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 18 is an enlarged view showing the details of teeth of theincremental stretching system of FIG. 17 in accordance with the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of an example cross machine directionaltensioning apparatus of the process of FIG. 11 in accordance with thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 20 is a schematic representation of a front view of an examplecross machine directional tensioning apparatus with outer longitudinalportions in an unexpanded and non-angled position relative to a middleportion in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 21 is a schematic representation of a front view of the crossmachine directional tensioning apparatus of FIG. 20 with the outerlongitudinal portions in a longitudinally expanded position relative tothe middle portion in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 22 is a schematic representation of a front view of the crossmachine directional tensioning apparatus of FIG. 20 with the outerlongitudinal portions in an angled and expanded position relative to themiddle portion in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 23 is a schematic representation of a front view of a cross machinedirectional tensioning apparatus with outer longitudinal portions fixedin an angled position relative to a middle portion in accordance withthe present disclosure;

FIG. 24 is an example overbond bond pattern for the roller 110 of FIG.13 in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 25 is a photograph of an example apertured web produced using theoverbond pattern of FIG. 24 and having been subjected to a 25% crossdirectional stretch using the equipment illustrated in FIG. 20 inaccordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 26 is a photograph of an example apertured web produced using theoverbond pattern of FIG. 24 and having been subjected to a 35% crossdirectional stretch using the equipment illustrated in FIG. 20 inaccordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 27 is a photograph of an example apertured web produced using theoverbond pattern of FIG. 24 and having been subjected to a 45% crossdirectional stretch using the equipment illustrated in FIG. 20 inaccordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 28 is a photograph of an example apertured web produced using theoverbond pattern of FIG. 24 and having been subjected to a 55% crossdirectional stretch using the equipment illustrated in FIG. 20 inaccordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 29 is a plan view of an example disposable absorbent article havingportions cut away to reveal underlying structure that may comprise oneor more apertured webs, the inner surface of the absorbent article isfacing the viewer in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 30 is a top view of an example absorbent core of an absorbentarticle with some layers partially removed, wherein the absorbent corecomprises one or more channels in accordance with the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 31 is a cross-sectional view of the absorbent core taken about line37-37 of FIG. 30 in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 32 is a cross-sectional view of the absorbent core taken about line38-38 of FIG. 30 in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 33 is a top view of an absorbent article of the present disclosure,having portions cut away to reveal underlying structure, that is asanitary napkin in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 34 is a top view of a patterned adhesive applied to a substrate foran absorbent article in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 35 is a top view of another patterned adhesive applied to asubstrate for an absorbent article in accordance with the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 36 is a photograph of a portion of a apertured web comprising fusedportions surrounding the apertures in accordance with the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 37 is a side view of a package of absorbent articles in accordancewith the present disclosure. The outer surface is illustrated astransparent for purposes of clarity;

FIGS. 38A-38B illustrate schematic illustrations of examples ofapertured webs of the present disclosure, with structures formedthereon;

FIG. 39 is a depiction of a coordinate system for the apertured webs ofthe present invention;

FIGS. 40-53 are photographs of apertured webs constructed in accordancewith the present invention;

FIGS. 54-58 represents a schematic illustration of a disposableabsorbent article comprising a plurality of zones in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIGS. 59-65 represent schematic illustrations of feminine care articlesconstructed in accordance with the present invention and including theapertured webs described herein;

FIGS. 66-69 represent schematic illustrations of bond patterns formaterials of the present invention;

FIGS. 70-71 are schematic illustrations showing overbond patterns on aweb in accordance with the preset invention;

FIGS. 72-81 are photographs of apertured webs in accordance with thepresent disclosure;

FIGS. 82-88 are illustrations showing overbonds, patterned adhesive andcombination of overbonds and patterned adhesive, respectively; and

FIG. 89 is a cross sectional view of a disposable absorbent article or aportion thereof, constructed in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various non-limiting forms of the present disclosure will now bedescribed to provide an overall understanding of the principles of thestructure, function, manufacture, and use of the apertured webs andmethods for making the same disclosed herein. One or more examples ofthese non-limiting forms are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the aperturedwebs and methods for making the same specifically described herein andillustrated in the accompanying drawings are non-limiting example formsand that the scope of the various non-limiting forms of the presentdisclosure are defined solely by the claims. The features illustrated ordescribed in connection with one non-limiting form may be combined withthe features of other non-limiting forms. Such modifications andvariations are intended to be included within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

As used herein, the term “nonwoven material” is used in its normal senseand specifically, refers to a web that has a structure of individualfibers or threads which are interlaid, but not in any regular, repeatingmanner. Nonwoven materials have been, in the past, formed by a varietyof processes, such as, for example, meltblowing processes, spunbondingprocesses and bonded carded web processes.

As used herein, the term “microfibers”, refers to small diameter fibershaving an average diameter not greater than about 100 microns.

As used herein, the term “nanofibers”, refers to very small diameterfibers having an average diameter less than about 1 micron.

As used herein, the term “meltblown fibers”, refers to fibers formed byextruding a molten thermoplastic material through a plurality of fine,usually circular, die capillaries as molten threads or filaments into ahigh velocity gas (e.g., air) stream which attenuates the filaments ofmolten thermoplastic material to reduce their diameter, which may be toa microfiber diameter. Thereafter, the meltblown fibers are carded bythe high velocity gas stream and are deposited on a collecting surfaceto form a web of randomly dispersed meltblown fibers.

As used herein, the term “spunbonded fibers”, refers to small diameterfibers which are formed by extruding a molten thermoplastic material asfilaments from a plurality of fine, usually circular, capillaries of aspinneret with the diameter of the extruded filaments then being rapidlyreduced as by, for example, eductive drawing or other well-knownspunbonding mechanisms.

As used herein, the term “polymer” generally includes, but is notlimited to, homopolymers, copolymers, such as, for example, block,graft, random, and alternating copolymers, terpolymer, etc., and blendsand modifications thereof. Furthermore, unless otherwise specificallylimited, the term “polymer” shall include all possible geometricalconfigurations of the material. These configurations include, but arenot limited to, isotactic, syndiotactic and random symmetries.

As used herein, the terms “join”, “joined”, “joining”, “bond”, “bonded”,“bonding”, “attach”, “attached”, or “attaching” encompassesconfigurations whereby an element is directly secured to another elementby affixing the element directly to the other element, andconfigurations whereby an element is indirectly secured to anotherelement by affixing the element to intermediate member(s) which in turnare affixed to the other element.

As used herein, the term “elastic” refers to any material that, uponapplication of a biasing force, can stretch to an elongated length of atleast about 110% of its relaxed, original length (i.e., can stretch to10 percent), without rupture or breakage, and upon release of theapplied force, recovers at least about 40% of its elongation. Forexample, a material that has an initial length of 100 mm can extend atleast to 110 mm, and upon removal of the force would retract to a lengthof 106 mm (40% recovery). “Elastic” may refer to a single material, orit may refer to a combination of materials making up a laminate or amacrostructure in an article. An elastic material may be incorporatedinto a laminate or macrostructure which is not elastic, or which is lesselastic than one or more of the elastic materials of the laminate ormacrostructure.

As used herein, the term “nonelastic” refers to any material which doesnot fall within the definition of “elastic” above.

As used herein, the term “extensible” refers to any material which, uponapplication of a biasing force, is elongatable by at least about 10percent, at least about 20, or at least about percent 50 percent,without experiencing catastrophic failure. Recovery of the strain is notrequired for a material to be considered extensible.

As used herein, the term “melt-stabilized” refers to portions of anonwoven material which have been subjected to localized heating and/orlocalized pressure to substantially consolidate the fibers of thenonwoven material into a stabilized film-like form.

As used herein, the term “absorbent article”, refers to devices whichabsorb and contain body exudates, and, more specifically, refers todevices which are placed against or in proximity to the body of thewearer to absorb and contain the various bodily exudates discharged fromthe body. The term absorbent article includes, but is not limited to,diapers, pants, training pants, adult incontinence products, sanitarynapkins, tampons, wipes, and liners. The term “absorbent article” alsoencompasses cleaning or dusting pads or substrates that have someabsorbency.

The term “machine direction” (MD) is used herein to refer to the primarydirection of material, strip of substrate, or article flow through aprocess.

The term “cross direction” (CD) is used herein to refer to a directionthat is generally perpendicular to the machine direction.

As used herein, the term “aperture aspect ratio” is the ratio of themajor axis to the minor axis of a single aperture.

Apertured Webs

The apertured webs of the present disclosure provide many benefits overconventional apertured topsheets, as will be described herein. Examplesof apertured webs 10 are illustrated in FIGS. 1-4, 14-16, and 72-81. Asillustrated, the apertured webs 10 may take on a number ofconfigurations. The apertures are labeled 12 and the land areas(non-apertured areas) are labeled 14. A number of additional exampleapertured web configurations are illustrated in subsequent figures.

The apertured webs of the present disclosure may comprise a singleapertured layer (see FIGS. 1-4) or more than one layer), for example,two or three layers. In such constructions, not all layers are requiredto be apertured. As such, webs of the present invention may comprise asingle layer or may be constructed as a laminate. The term “layer” meansa self-sustaining web (e.g., a nonwoven or a film) and not anon-self-sustaining web (e.g., a spun layer of an SMMS nonwoven). Thus,a Spunbond-Meltblown-Meltblown-Spunbond (SMMS) nonwoven material wouldbe considered a single layer for purposes of this disclosure, much likea film would be considered a single layer.

The apertured web may comprise one or more non-apertured layers thathave not been put through an aperturing process, but merely haveopenings (if any) created in the formation of the material (e.g., poresin nonwovens). If two apertured layers are provided in an apertured web,each layer may have the same aperturing pattern or a differentaperturing pattern. However, as noted previously, in some forms, theapertured web may comprise a single layer.

For those forms where the apertured webs comprise multiple layers, eachlayer may comprise a plurality of substrates, e.g. SMMS. Other suitablesubstrates include spunbonded “S”; meltblown “M”; spunlace “SL”; carded“C”; and fine fiber substrates “N”. Suitable substrate combinationsinclude SMS, SNS, SMNS and the like. Spunbonded, meltblown, and cardednonwovens are well known in the art. Fine fiber substrates includefibers with average diameters less than one micron or 1000 nanometers.

Referring to FIG. 5, a schematic illustration of an examplecross-sectional view of an apertured web 10 is illustrated. Theapertured web 10 may comprise an apertured layer 16 and a non-aperturedlayer 18. The apertured layer 16 may comprise any of the variousaperture patterns disclosed herein. The aperture layer 16 may becombined with, bonded to, or joined to the non-apertured layer 18 toform a laminate. The apertured layer 16 may have apertures and landareas at least partially surrounding the apertures.

If both or all layers of an multi-layer apertured web are apertured, theapertures may be aligned or overlapping, not aligned or not overlapping,or partially aligned or partially overlapping in the Z-direction. Forinstance, the apertures in one layer may be 100% aligned or overlappingin the Z-direction with the apertures in a second layer thus formingapertures through both layers of the apertured web. In other instances,the apertures may be less than 100% aligned or overlapping in theZ-direction. Stated another way, the apertures in one layer may beoffset in the CD, MD, or other direction or different patterns ofapertures may be formed in each layer to create the misalignment of theapertures. In such instances, the area of the apertures in one layer mayoverlap the area of the apertures in another layer, in the Z-direction,by 10% to 90%, 10% to 100%, 25%, 50%, or 75%, for example, specificallyreciting all 0.5% increments within the specified ranges and all rangesformed therein or thereby.

In instances where more than one layer of an apertured web includesapertures, the apertures may be coincident in the Z-direction, i.e.,penetrate through both layers. In a form, this may be achieved byforming the apertures after bonding, joining and/or laminating the twoor more layers together. Alternatively, the apertures in one layer mayhave a different pattern, size, and/or shape from the apertures in asecond layer and/or may be oriented in a different direction. In a form,this may be achieved by forming the apertures in each of the layersprior to combining the two or layers into a laminated structure. Inabsorbent article forms comprising an apertured web having an aperturedlayer and a non-apertured layer, the apertured layer may be oriented onthe wearer-facing side of the apertured web or on the garment-facingside of the apertured web. In still other forms, the apertured layer maybe positioned intermediate two non-apertured layers.

Any of the layers of the apertured web described herein may behydrophilic or hydrophobic. In some instances, all of the layers may behydrophilic or may all be hydrophobic. In still other instances, all of,or some of, the layers may be hydrophilic to different extents orhydrophobic to different extents. In a form, a first layer of anapertured web may have the same or a different hydrophilicity as anotherlayer of the same apertured web. At least one of the layers comprisesapertures. As an example, a wearer-facing layer of an apertured web maybe hydrophobic to help keep the wearer feeling dry and fresh while agarment-facing layer of the apertured web may be hydrophilic to helpwick fluid into the apertures and into an absorbent core. For thoseinstances where a single layer apertured web is utilized, constituentsubstrates of the single layer may have differinghydrophilic/hydrophobic properties. For those instances where theapertured web comprises a plurality of layers, a constituent substrateof a first layer may have differing hydrophilic/hydrophobic propertiesfrom a constituent substrate of a second layer.

In an instance, again referring to FIG. 5, the apertured layer 16 mayhave a different color than the non-apertured layer 18, such that theapertures in the layer 16 are easily visible or more readily apparent toa user. The aperture pattern in the apertured layer 16 may also formindicia (“apertured indicia”) that may indicate the correct orientationof an absorbent article comprising the apertured web 10 on a wearer.Such apertured indicia may include any object or shape that has acommonly understood vertical orientation, such as a heart shape, a face,a building, a letter or numeral, a car, for example. This may also applyto other apertured webs described herein, regardless of how manyapertured or non-apertured layers are provided.

Any of the apertured webs described herein may have gradients of colorto indicate which side of the product comprising the web is the top andwhich side is the bottom.

The layers of the apertured web of the present disclosure may have thesame basis weight or a different basis weight. In an instance, againreferring to FIG. 5, the layer 16 may have a higher basis weight thanthe layer 18. This may provide better softness on a surface of the layer16 (e.g., a topsheet contacting a wearer's skin), while also providingenhanced fluid penetration owing to the apertures in the layer 16.

The basis weight of a apertured web may in the range of about 10 gsm toabout 200 gsm, about 10 gsm to about 100 gsm, about 10 gsm to about 50gsm, or about 10 gsm to about 40 gsm, specifically reciting all 0.1 gsmincrements within the above-specified range and all ranged formedtherein or thereby. Basis weight is measured according to the BasisWeight Method herein.

The predominant fiber orientation of the fibers in the layers ofmulti-layered apertured webs may be the same or different. In aninstance, a predominant fiber orientation may be about 45 degrees toabout 135 degrees, for example, off-axis relative to a machinedirection, while another layer may have a predominant fiber orientationsubstantially along a machine direction or +/−about 10 to about 20degrees from the machine direction. Providing different layers in anapertured web with different predominant fiber orientations may provideincreased strength and resistance to tearing of the apertured web whenthe two or more layers are joined or bonded together.

Referring to FIG. 6, a schematic illustration of an examplecross-sectional view of another apertured web 10 is illustrated. Theapertured web 10 may comprise a first apertured layer 20 and a secondapertured layer 22. Apertures of the first apertured layer 20 in FIG. 6may be 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 80% to 100%, or 100% aligned, in theZ-direction (indicated by arrow Z), with apertures the second aperturedlayer 22, specifically reciting all 0.5% increments within the specifiedrange and all ranges formed therein. The first apertured layer 20 may becombined with, bonded to, or joined to the second patterned aperturelayer 22 to form a laminated apertured web. The apertured web 10 of FIG.6, or any of the other apertured webs of the present disclosure, maycomprise a third layer 21 (or more than three layers) that may benon-apertured or apertured. The second apertured layer 22 may becombined with, bonded to, or joined to the third non-apertured layer 21.

Again referring to FIG. 6, the apertures in the second apertured layer22 may be smaller than (e.g., 10% less area, 20% less area, 30% lessarea etc.) the apertures in the first apertured layer 20. Such a featuremay allow BM penetration through the first layer 20 while also providingadequate liquid bodily exudate fluid strikethrough through the secondlayer 22 or rewet from the first layer compared to a non-aperturedsecond layer.

Referring to FIG. 7, a schematic illustration of an examplecross-sectional of another apertured web 10 is illustrated. Theapertured web 10 may comprise a first apertured layer 24 and a secondapertured layer 26. Apertures of the first apertured layer 24 may befully overlapped by non-apertured portions or “land areas” of the secondapertured layer 26 in the Z-direction (indicated by arrow Z). The firstapertured layer 24 may be combined with, bonded to, or joined to thesecond patterned aperture layer 26 to form a laminated apertured web.

Referring to FIG. 8, a schematic illustration of an examplecross-sectional view of another apertured web 10 is illustrated. Theapertured web 10 may comprise a first apertured layer 28 and a secondapertured layer 30. Apertures of the first apertured layer 28 may bepartially overlapped by non-apertured portions or “land areas” of thesecond apertured layer 30 in the Z-direction (indicated by arrow Z). Thefirst apertured layer 28 may be combined with, bonded to, or joined tothe second apertured layer 30 to form a laminated apertured web. Theoverlap of the areas of the apertures in the first apertured layer 28and the areas of the apertures in the second apertured layer may be inthe range of about 5% to about 95%, about 10% to about 90%, about 20% toabout 80%, about 25% to about 75%, about 25%, about 50%, or about 75%,specifically reciting all 0.5% increments within the specified rangesand all ranges formed therein or thereby.

The example apertured web 10 of FIG. 8 may also comprise a pigmentedsubstance (full continuous layer) or a patterned pigmented substance 29at least partially intermediate the first and second apertured layers 28and 30. The pigmented substance or patterned pigmented substance 29 maycomprise graphics, inks, pigmented adhesives or other pigmentedsubstances and may be viewable through the overlapping areas of theapertures from either side of the apertured web 10. The pigmentedsubstance or patterned pigmented substance 29 may be positioned underthe second apertured layer 30 and may still be viewable through theoverlapping areas of the apertures when viewing from the first aperturedlayer 28. The pigmented substance 29 may be viewable through theapertured layer 28. For those instances where the pigmented substance 29is disposed on a side of the second apertured layer 30 not between thefirst and second apertured patterned layers can be visible through boththe first and second apertured layers 28 and 30.

The first apertured layer 28, the second apertured layer 30, and thepigmented substance or the patterned pigmented substance 29 may be thesame color or may each be a different color. Alternatively, theapertured layers 28 and 30 may have a different color as the pigmentedsubstance or the patterned pigmented substance 29. Such forms allow fora three-dimensional appearance to be provided in the apertured web 10without actually making the apertured web 10 three-dimensional, such asthrough embossing, for example.

Forms of the present invention are contemplated where the pigmentedsubstance 29 is associated with an apertured layer, e.g. first aperturedlayer 28, and a non-apertured layer, e.g. third layer 21 (shown in FIG.6). In such forms, a portion of the pigmented substance 29 may beviewable through the apertures and another portion of the pigmentedsubstance 29 may be viewable through the lands of the apertured layerand/or non-apertured layer.

Materials

Any of the layers of the apertured webs described herein may compriseany materials known in the art including, but not limited to, nonwovens,wovens, cellulosic materials, films, elastic materials, non-elasticmaterials, highloft materials, and/or foams. The apertured webs may alsocomprise one or more layers of one or more nonwoven materials, one ormore films, combinations of different nonwoven materials, combinationsof different films, combinations of one or more films and one or morenonwoven materials, or combinations of one or more different materials,for example. Apertured webs having one or more layers of the same orsimilar materials are also within the scope of the present disclosure.The basis weight, color, opacity, hydrophilcity, Interaperture Distance,Absolute Feret Angle, Effective Aperture Area, Effective Open Area, orother parameters or characteristics of the various materials in thevarious layers may be the same or different.

For those instances where the apertured web comprises a plurality ofsubstrates, each substrate may be integrally formed with one another.For example, all substrates of a layer may be produced via a spunbondprocess. A first substrate may be produced by a first spin beam and asecond substrate may be produced via a second spin beam. Additionalsubstrates may be produced via additional spin beams on the samespunbond manufacturing line.

Some precursor web materials may comprise PE/PP bi-component fiberspunbond webs. Other suitable precursor webs may comprise spunbond webscomprising side-by-side crimped fibers (e.g. PE/PP or PP/PP) that arebonded via calendar (thermal point) bonding or through-air bonding. Forthose configurations with multiple layers a first layer and second layerof the apertured web of the present invention may comprise a crimpedspunbond layer. For these configurations, the crimped spunbond layersmay be combined from roll stock and joined as provided herein. However,where the apertured web comprises a first substrate and a secondsubstrate, each may be crimped spunbond substrates formed on a spunbondmanufacturing line where the first substrate is formed from a first spinbeam while the second substrate is formed from a second spin beam.

Other suitable precursor webs may comprise carded staple fiberscomprising polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate,polyethylene/polypropylene bi-component, polyethylene/polyethyleneterephthalate bi-component, or the like, which are calendar bonded,through-air bonded, resin bonded or hydroentangled. The precursor websmay comprise microfibers and/or nanofibers, optionally with otherfibers. In some circumstances, multiple layer webs may be desired over asingle layer webs (even at the same basis weight) due to increaseduniformity/opacity and the ability to combine webs having differentproperties. For example, an extensible spunbond nonwoven carrier layermay be combined with a soft, crimped fiber nonwoven (spunbond or carded)to create an apertured web that is both soft and strong. The layers mayhave the same or different surface energy, for example, the top layermay be hydrophobic and the lower layer may be hydrophilic. The layersmay have different permeability/capillarity, e.g. the upper layer mayhave higher permeability and the lower layer have higher capillarity inorder to set up a capillary gradient and aid in moving fluid away fromthe surface (or topsheet) of an absorbent article and into an absorbentcore of the absorbent article.

Further regarding coloration, the webs of the present invention maycomprise pigments, inks or dyes to achieve any color difference asprovided herein. The fibers of the first layer and the fibers of thesecond layer may differ from each other in pigmentation. As used herein,to “differ in pigmentation” or “difference in pigmentation” means (a)the constituent material of a first layer comprises a pigment which isdifferent from the pigment of a second layer; or (b) the constituentmaterial of a first layer comprises a different combination of pigments;or (c) the constituent material of a first layer comprise differentamounts of the same pigment(s) versus a second layer; or (d)combinations of any of options a) to c). The pigment or colorant may beadded uniformly throughout the constituent material within each layer ormay be added to one or both components in same or different type/amountwithin multicomponent fibers.

A pigment is a material, which can be organic or inorganic and mayinclude activatable, structural and or special effects pigments. Apigment changes the color of reflected or transmitted light as theresult of wavelength-selective absorption. This physical process differsfrom fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, inwhich a material emits light. A pigment is a generally insoluble powder,which differs from a dye, which either is itself a liquid or is solublein a solvent (resulting in a solution). Dyes are often used to provide aprint on the surface of a nonwoven web, such as graphics, pattern orimages. Hence, these dyes do not form a part of the fibers of thenonwoven web but are rather applied on the web surface. In the presentinvention the pigments may be comprised within the fibers of themultilayered nonwoven web, which eliminates the risk of rub-off orwash-off of the color(s) imparted to the multilayered nonwoven web bythe pigment.

For the present invention, the pigment will typically be mixed with thethermoplastic material, of which the fibers are made. Often, the pigmentis added to the thermoplastic material in the form of a master batch orconcentrate at the time of formation of the fibers. Colored masterbatches useful for the present invention include polypropylene basedcustom color master batches e.g. supplied by Ampacet; Lufilen andLuprofil supplied by BASF; Remafin for polyolefin fibers, Renol-AT forpolyester fibers, Renol-AN for polyamide fibers and CESA for renewablepolymers supplied by Clariant. Hence, the pigment will be suspended inthe molten thermoplastic material prior to the thermoplastic materialbeing forced through the spinnerets to form and lay down the fiberswhich form the nonwoven web.

To increase the whiteness and/or opacity of the fibers in either or bothlayers, titanium dioxide (TiO2) may be used. Different crystal forms areavailable, however most preferred are rutile or anatase TiO2. Otherwhite pigments include zinc oxide, zinc sulfide, lead carbonate orcalcium carbonate. To create a black color, carbon black or any othersuitable colorant may be used.

Various colored inorganic pigments may be used depending upon thedesired color and may include metal oxides, hydroxides and sulfides orany other suitable material. Non-limiting examples of inorganic pigmentsinclude cadmium orange, iron oxide, ultramarine, chrome oxide green. Oneor more pigments may be combined to create the desired color.Non-limiting examples of organic colorants include anthraquinonepigments, azo pigments, benzimidazolone pigments, BONA Lakes, Dioxazine,Naphthol, Perylene, Perinone, Phthalocyanine, Pyranthrone,Quinacridones. Effects pigments including metal, pearlescent andfluorescent may also be used. Various colorants are described inPlastics Additives Handbook, 5th Edition.

Webs of the present invention may additionally comprise hydrophobicand/or hydrophilic treatments. Such treatments may be in the form ofmelt additives and/or spray/coat on chemistries. Some suitable examplesof hydrophilic treatments include: Techmer PPM15560; Techmer TPM12713;Polyvel VW351 PP Wetting Agent; Goulston Hydrosorb 1001; as well asthose hydrophilic additive disclosed in US Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2012/0077886. One suitable examples of hydrophobictreatments include Techmer PPM17000 High Load Hydrophobic. Otherexamples of hydrophobic additives are disclosed in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/849,630.

Joining of Layers

If more than one layer is provided in a particular apertured web, thelayers may be bonded together using any bonding methods known to thoseof skill in the art, such as adhesive bonding, patterned adhesivecoating, ultrasonic bonding, thermal bonding, mechanical bonding, or anycombination of these bonding methods. Alternatively, the various layersmay be bonded together only at the perimeter of the apertures, throughthe overbonding step. The bonding may be done in a pattern of bonds orin arrays of bonds. The pattern may be a regular, uniform pattern or anirregular, non-uniform pattern. The bonding patterns may comprise asubstantially continuous bond pattern or may be formed of discretebonding points. The discrete bonding points may form a pattern. Thepattern of bonding points may be homogeneous or non-homogeneous. A bondpattern in one region of a apertured web may differ from a bond patternin another region of the apertured web. For example, the bond patternmay be different in the machine direction or the cross-machine directionof the apertured web laminate. An absorbent article including theapertured web may have a different bond pattern in the front region vs.the back region, the center region vs. side regions, or the crotchregion vs. waist regions of the absorbent article, for example. Bondingin apertured webs is typically accomplished by joining the land areas ofvarious layers of the apertured webs. If adhesive is used in the bondingprocess, the adhesive may be tinted, pigmented, and/or patterned tocreate a complementary or contrasting pattern compared to the aperturepattern or patterns.

Any suitable method may be utilized to form bonds betweenlayers/substrates described herein. Some suitable examples areultrasonic, heated rolls, and the like. In a specific example,substrates, layers and/or elements of a disposable absorbent articlesmay be bonded together via fusion bonding, ultrasonic bonding, or thelike. The bonding may comprise a pattern or a plurality of patternswhich form graphics and/or other depictions, hereafter “bond indicia”.In another example, substrates, layers and/or elements of disposableabsorbent articles may be adhesively bonded together.

The mechanical bonding methods, e.g. fusion bond, ultrasonic, etc. cancause localized areas of the web to thin and become film like—in thecase of nonwovens. These thinner areas can have different opacitycharacteristics with respect to the constituent material around thebond. As such, visual/color effects can be achieved. For example, thethinner areas may appear as a different color than the constituentmaterial around the bond.

Some examples of bond indicia are shown in FIGS. 62-66. In order toensure the integrity of the product and of a topsheet, the total area ofthe bonding (calculated as a percent area of the outer perimeter ofbonding region) may range from 5% to 25%, 10% to 20%, or 12% to 18%. Thesize of each individual bond nub may range from 0.5 sqmm to 5 sqmm, 1sqmm to 3 sqmm. The spacing between bond nubs can range from 1 mm to 5cm, 1.6 mm to 3 cm.

In some forms, the bonds, as stated previously, may be configured inpatterns so as to create bond indicia. But apart from forming bondindicia, the bonds can help secure the layers of material together.Additionally, in some forms, the bonds may be utilized to secure atopsheet to subjacent layers of a disposable absorbent article, e.g. asecondary topsheet, absorbent core, etc.

As shown in FIGS. 62-66, bond patterns 3000A, 3000B, 3000C, and 3000D ofthe present invention may comprise a plurality of bond sites 3002. Thebond sites may be any suitable shape. As shown, the bond sites areapproximately circular; however, elliptical, diamond, heart, star,clover (3 leaf, 4 leaf), bowtie, combinations thereof, and the like arecontemplated. In some forms, the constituent bond sites 3002 of a bondpattern may comprise combinations of shapes.

As shown in FIG. 66, the bond pattern 3000A may comprise a plurality ofarrays of bond sites, e.g. 3010, 3020, 3030, and 3040. The first array3010 may be a continuous series of bond sites 3002 which enclose thesecond array 3020, the third array 3030, and the fourth array 3040. Asshown, the second array 3020 may be discontinuous and disposed betweenthe first array 3010 and the third array 3030. The third array 3030,much like the first array 3010 may be continuous and may enclosed thefourth array 3040. The fourth array 3040 may be discontinuous and bedisposed in a target area on the absorbent article. The target areasignifies the location of the article which is likely to receive thefluid insult from the wearer assuming the absorbent product is donnedproperly.

With the discontinuous fourth array 3040, fluid insults can be providedwith adequate access to the nonwoven laminate. Additionally, with thecontinuous third array 3030, fluid insults are encouraged to stay withinthe target area as opposed to meandering to outer edges of the article.

As shown in FIG. 67, the bond pattern 3000B may comprise a plurality ofarrays of bond sites. For example, a first array 3010B may be continuousand comprise bond sites which are arranged in the shape of hearts,clouds, etc. A second array 3020B is disposed within the first array3010B and disposed about a third array 3030B. The third array 3030B iscontinuous and surrounds the fourth array 3040B. Much like the arrays ofthe bond pattern 3000A, the arrays of the bond pattern 3000B can providefluid handling benefits.

As shown in FIG. 68, a bond pattern 3000C may comprise a plurality ofarrays of bond sites. However, in contrast with the previous bondpatterns, a first array 3010C may be discontinuous about the entireperiphery of a pad. As shown, the first array 3010C comprises aplurality of continuous segments of bond sites each of which isdisconnected from one another. A second array 3020C may be disposedinboard of the first plurality 3010C and may also comprise a pluralityof continuous segments which are discontinuous. A third array 3030C maycomprise continuous bond sites and enclose a fourth array 3040C. Thefourth array 3040C comprises a plurality of discontinuous bond sites.Much like the bond patterns discussed previously, the bond pattern 3000Cmay provide fluid handling benefits.

As shown in FIG. 69, a bond pattern 3000D may comprise a plurality ofarrays of bond sites. For example, a first array 3010D may comprise aplurality of bond sites which are arranged in a continuous fashion andmay enclosed a second array 3020D, a third array 3030D and a fourtharray 3040D of bond sites. The second array 3020D may comprise aplurality of bond sites which form continuous elements as well as aplurality of bond sites which form discontinuous elements. Thesecontinuous elements may be disposed at a first end and second end of theabsorbent article. The third array 3030D of plurality of bond sites maybe continuous and may enclosed the fourth array 3040D. The fourth array3040D may comprise a plurality of bond sites which form a plurality ofelements. Each of the elements may be continuous but discontinuous withrespect to the other elements. For example, each element may comprise aplurality of bond sites, e.g. 4. The bond sites would be consideredcontinuous for each respective element, but the bond sites from elementto element would be discontinuous.

Color

Any of the layers of the apertured webs may have a color that is thesame or different than another layer of the apertured web, regardless ofwhether a layer is apertured or non-apertured. For instance, in a twolayer apertured web, a first layer may be blue and a second layer may bewhite, or a first layer may be dark blue and the second layer may belight blue. There may be a Delta E difference between at least some ofthe layers. The layers may also have the same opacity or a different, asdescribed in further detail below.

Either in addition to or in lieu of the various layers being colored,referring to FIG. 9, one or more of the layers of the apertured webs 10of the present disclosure may include printing 32, e.g., with ink or apigmented or colored pattern. The ink may be deposited via any printingprocess known in the art including, but not limited to, flexographicprinting and digital inkjet printing. The printing may comprise apattern or a plurality of patterns which form graphics and/or otherdepictions, hereafter, “printed indicia.” The printing may be on anexternal surface of a first layer 34 of the apertured web 10, betweenthe first and second layers 34, 36 (as illustrated) of the apertured web10, or may be on a surface beneath the second layer 36 of the aperturedweb 10. The printing may also be situated in any suitable location ifthe apertured web has more than two layers (e.g., on the surface of anyof the layers). The printing may also be deposited in zones of theapertured web and/or in patterns throughout the apertured web. Theprinting may be different or the same in different zones of theapertured web. If the printing will be covered by one of the layers(e.g., layer 34), the covering layer (e.g., layer 34) may have arelatively low opacity to enhance the visual appearance of the printing.The density of the printing (e.g., clarity and contrast) may be enhancedby including small-denier fibers in the printed layer including, but notlimited to, melt-blown fibers, microfibers, and nanofibers. The printing32 may be on the first layer 34, the second layer 36, and/or may be on aseparate layer positioned at least partially intermediate the first andsecond layers 34 and 36. In an instance, the printing may indicate theproper orientation of an absorbent article on a wearer (e.g.,front/rear). It will be understood that printing may be used with any ofthe various forms and configurations of the apertured webs disclosedherein. In some forms, more than one type or color, for example, ofprinting may be used in a single apertured web. Additional layers mayalso be provided in a pattered apertured web having one or more printedpatterns. For those forms of the present invention comprising a singlelayer apertured web, the apertured web may comprise printing and/or bepigments as described herein.

Either in addition to or in lieu of the various layers being coloredand/or having printing, referring to FIG. 10, the apertured webs maycomprise a colored adhesive 38 or other colored substance (hereinafter“colored adhesive”). The colored adhesive 38 may include a pigment, atint, or a dye, for example. The colored adhesive, in a form, may bepositioned between a first layer 40 and second layer 42 of an aperturedweb 10. In some forms, more than one colored adhesive may be used in asingle apertured web. The colored adhesive may also be situated in anysuitable location if the apertured web has more than two layers (e.g.,on the surface of or intermediate any of the layers). The coloredadhesive may also be deposited in zones of the apertured web and/or inpatterns throughout the apertured web. The colored adhesive may bedifferent or the same in different zones of the apertured web. Thecolored adhesive may be positioned intermediate the two layers 40, 42 orpositioned on any other surfaces of the layers 40, 42. Additional layersmay also be provided in a apertured web having one or more coloredadhesives. As stated previously, adhesive and particularly coloredadhesive may be applied such that the adhesive forms a pattern or aplurality of patterns which form graphics and/or other depictions,referred to as “adhesive indicia.” Adhesive indicia are discussed inadditional detail hereafter.

In an instance, a colored adhesive may be positioned between two lowbasis weight materials (e.g., 15 gsm or less, 10 gsm or less) forming anapertured web, so that the colored adhesive may be visible from eitherside of the apertured web. In a laminate topsheet context, this canprovide a high basis weight topsheet to achieve improved softness, whilestill retaining the benefit of seeing the colored adhesive from eitherside of the apertured web.

In some forms of the present invention, adhesive indicia may be createdfrom non-colored adhesive. In some forms of the present invention, theprovision of clear adhesive can change the appearance of the aperturedweb. For example, in such forms, the provision of clear adhesive canmake the web appear more opaque and/or more dense in the area ofadhesive application. As such, the provision of adhesive—whether coloredor non-colored (clear)—can form adhesive indicia. As an example, adisposable absorbent article of the present invention may compriseadhesive indicia which comprises a plurality of discrete adhesive bondsites which may comprise a combination of non-colored (clear) adhesiveand/or colored adhesive.

Structures

Apertured webs described herein may additionally comprise an array ofstructures. For example, a first portion of the apertured web maycomprise an array of apertures as described herein while a secondportion comprises an array of structures. The structures may be thoseshown in FIGS. 38A-38B. For example, as shown in FIG. 38A, an aperturedweb 1700 of the present invention may comprise a looped nonwoven tuft1770 or any array thereof. As shown, the apertured web 1700 comprises afirst nonwoven layer 1710 and a second nonwoven layer 1750. The firstnonwoven layer 1710 comprises a generally planar first surface 1715 anda generally planar second surface 1720 opposed to the first surface1715, and the second nonwoven layer 1750 has a generally planar firstsurface 1755 and a generally planar second surface 1760. The firstnonwoven layer 1710 comprises a first plurality of substantiallyrandomly oriented fibers, and the second nonwoven layer 1750 comprises asecond plurality of substantially randomly oriented fibers. At least aportion of the second plurality of fibers in the second nonwoven layer1750 is in liquid communication with the first nonwoven layer 710. Therespective surfaces of the first nonwoven layer 1710 and second nonwovenlayer 1750, can be arranged such that the first surfaces 1715 and 1755,respectively, are body-facing surfaces, and the second surfaces 1720 and1760, respectively, can be arranged as garment-facing surfaces.

As shown in FIG. 38A, the second surface 1720 of the first nonwovenlayer 1710 may comprise a first discontinuity 1735. The firstdiscontinuity 1735 may be formed when localized areas of constituentfibers of the first nonwoven layer 1710 are urged in the Z-directionsuch that these constituent fibers are disposed superjacent to the firstsurface 1715 of the first nonwoven layer 1710. The urging in theZ-direction of the constituent fibers of the first nonwoven layer 1710may be such that a plurality of fibers break thereby forming the firstdiscontinuity 1735.

As shown, the second surface 1760 of the second nonwoven layer 1750 maycomprise a second discontinuity 1775. With regard to the seconddiscontinuity 1775, localized areas of constituent fibers of the secondnonwoven layer 750 are urged in the Z-direction such that theseconstituent fibers are disposed superjacent to a plane of the firstsurface 1755 of the second nonwoven layer 1750. This Z-direction urgingalso forces these constituent fibers to extend through the first ofdiscontinuity 1735 in the second surface 1720 of the first nonwovenlayer 1710. The extension of the constituent fibers of the secondnonwoven layer 1750 forms a tufts 1770.

With regard to FIG. 38B, the nonwoven web 1700 may be configured asshown. Namely, as shown, the first surface 1715 of the first nonwovenlayer 1710 may comprise the first discontinuity 1735. The firstdiscontinuity 1735 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 38B, is formed whenlocalized areas of constituent fibers of the first nonwoven layer 1710are urged in the negative Z-direction such that these constituent fibersare disposed subjacent to the first surface 1715 of the first nonwovenlayer 1710 thereby forming the tuft 1770. In some embodiments, the tuft1770 may extend beyond the second surface 1760 of the second nonwovenlayer 1750 such that at least a portion of the tuft 1770 is subjacent tothe second surface 1760.

As shown, in some embodiments, the tuft 1770 may extend through thesecond discontinuity 1775. The second discontinuity 1775 may be createdwhen localized areas of constituent fibers of the second nonwoven layer1750 are urged in the negative Z-direction such that these constituentfibers are disposed subjacent to the first surface 1755 of the secondnonwoven layer 1750. The urging in the negative Z-direction of theconstituent fibers of the second nonwoven layer 1750 may be such that aplurality of fibers break thereby forming the second discontinuity 1775.

Tufts 1770 can comprise a plurality of looped fibers that aresubstantially aligned such that each of the tufts 1770 have a distinctlinear orientation and a longitudinal axis L. By “looped” fibers it ismeant to refer to fibers of the tufts 1770 that are integral with andbegin and end in the second layer 1750 but extend generally outwardly inthe Z-direction from the first surface 1755 of the second layer 1750 andextend beyond the first surface 1715 of the first layer 1710. Similarorientations are contemplated for the tufts 1770 formed by the firstlayer 1710.

The tufts 1770 described herein may have longitudinal axes generallyaligned in the MD. However, tufts 1770 and, therefore, longitudinal axesL, can, in principle, be aligned in any orientation with respect to theMD or CD. Therefore, in general, it can be said that for each tuft 1770,the looped aligned fibers are aligned generally orthogonal to thelongitudinal axis L such that they have a significant vector componentparallel to transverse axis and can have a major vector componentparallel to the transverse axis.

As described below, another characteristic of tufts 1770 can be theirgenerally open structure characterized by open void area definedinteriorly of tufts 1770. The void area may have a shape that is wideror larger at a distal portion of the tuft 1770 and narrower at the tuftbase of the tuft 270. This is opposite to the shape of the tooth whichis used to form the tuft 270 which is discussed hereafter. The term“void area” is not meant to refer to an area completely free of anyfibers. Rather, the term is meant as a general description of thegeneral appearance of tufts 1770. These structures described with regardto FIGS. 38A-38B are similarly applicable to those apertured webs whichcomprise a plurality of substrates in addition to those apertured webswhich comprise a plurality of layers.

The structures disclosed herein may be provided in arrays or a pluralitythereof. Such arrays of structures or plurality of arrays of structuresmay comprise a pattern or a plurality of patterns which form graphicsand/or other depictions, hereafter, “structural indicia.” Additionalforms are contemplated where the structures described herein may beutilized in any combination.

The structures described herein can aid in fluid management as well asprovide a comfortable feel to the user. For example, those structures,e.g. tufts 1770 oriented in the Z-direction can provide a user with asoft feel. As another example, those structures, e.g. tufts 1770oriented in the negative Z-direction can provide fluid managementbenefits.

Forms of the present invention are contemplated, where the constituentmaterial of either the first layer or second layer does not break uponthe Z-direction urging mentioned heretofore. In such forms, inner tufts1770 and outer tufts may be created. Some examples of suitablestructures and their method of manufacture are described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 7,172,801; 7,838,099; 7,754,050; 7,682,686; 7,410,683; 7,507,459;7,553,532; 7,718,243; 7,648,752; 7,732,657; 7,789,994; 8,728,049; and8,153,226.

Other suitable structures can include ridges/grooves. Such structuresand processes for producing ridges and/or grooves are disclosed in U.S.Pat. Nos. 6,458,447; 7,270,861; 8,502,013; 7,954,213; 7,625,363;8,450,557; and 7,741,235. Additional suitable processes and structuresare described in US Patent Application Publication Nos. US2003/018741;US2009/0240222; US2012/0045620; US20120141742; US20120196091;US20120321839; US2013/0022784; US2013/0017370; US2013/013732;US2013/0165883; US2013/0158497; US2013/0280481; US2013/0184665;US2013/0178815; and US2013/0230236700. Still additional suitableprocesses and structures are described with regard to PCT PatentApplication Publication Nos. WO2008/156075; WO2010/055699;WO2011/125893; WO2012/137553; WO2013/018846; WO2013/047890; andWO2013/157365.

Other suitable structures include nubs. Some suitable processes forcreating nubs on a web and the resulting structures are described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 7,713,683; 6,852,475; 7,303,861; 8,057,729; 8,287,800;and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0121120.

Additional structures include embossing. Embossing of absorbent articlesgenerally results in thinned out areas in the absorbent article.Embossing, similar to fusion bonding, involves the manipulation ofmaterial in a first layer and a second layer in the positive and/ornegative Z-direction. Generally, embossing does not result in the fusionof layers. Unlike fusion bonds, embossing typically results in macrodepressions in an absorbent article. Embossing is further discussed inU.S. Pat. Nos. 8,496,775 and 8,491,742.

Opacity

The opacity of at least one of the layers of an apertured web may differfrom the opacity of the other layers of the apertured web. In someinstances, the layer of the apertured web closest to an externalobserver may have a lower opacity than an underlying layer in order tomaximize observable contrast differences between the layers and/or toobserve printing or colored adhesives. Alternatively, the layer of theapertured web closest to an external observer may have a higher opacitythan an underlying layer in order to more effectively mask bodilyexudates (e.g., urine, menses, or BM) or to provide for greater colorcontrast with the layers below. When an apertured web is used as afluid-permeable topsheet, the layer closest to an external observerwould be the wearer-facing surface. In a form, where the apertured webis located on the external surface of an absorbent article (e.g., anouter cover, fastening system element, stretch ear, belt, or sidepanel), the layer closest to an external observer would be thegarment-facing surface. For example, the opacity of a non-aperturedlayer may be lower than that of an apertured layer, or vice versa,depending on the specific orientation of an apertured web in anabsorbent article.

An apertured web may have a high opacity. This enables an aperturepattern to be more easily distinguished, provides contrast to any colorsand materials underneath, and in the case of a diaper topsheet or asanitary napkin topsheet, masks the presence of bodily fluids containedwithin the absorbent core, providing a cleaner appearance to the wearer.To achieve this benefit, opacities of about 30, about 40, about 50, orabout 60 may be desired. In some forms of the present invention,opacities may range from about 40-100 or from about 50-90, specificallyreciting all values within these ranges and any ranges created thereby.

Increases in opacity can be achieved via any known suitableproduct/process. Some suitable examples include adding fillers (e.g.TiO2), fiber shape (e.g. Trilobal vs. round), smaller fiber diameters(including microfibers and/or nano fibers), etc. A specific example ofnonwoven web having high opacity is an SMS (spunbond, meltblown,spunbond) or an SMNS (spunbond, meltblown, nano fiber, spunbond)construction. Another specific example is a nonwoven comprising nanofibers, such as those produced by melt film fibrillation as described inU.S. Pat. No. 8,487,156 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2004/0266300. In one specific example, the web of the invention maycomprise a layer having meltblown and nanofibers—SMNS construction.

Components of Absorbent Articles

The apertured webs of the present disclosure may be used as componentsof absorbent articles. More than one apertured web may be used in asingle absorbent article. In such a context, the apertured webs may format least a portion of: a topsheet; a topsheet and an acquisition layer;a topsheet and a distribution layer; an acquisition layer and adistribution layer; a topsheet, an acquisition layer, and a distributionlayer; an outer cover; a backsheet; an outer cover and a backsheet,wherein a film (non-apertured layer) of the apertured web forms thebacksheet and a nonwoven material forms the outer cover; a leg cuff; anear or side panel; a fastener; a waist band; or any other suitableportion of an absorbent article. The apertured webs may take ondifferent configurations and patterns of land and aperture areasdepending on their particular use in an absorbent article. The number oflayers in a apertured web may also be determined by the apertured webs'particular use.

As referenced above, any of the apertured webs of the present disclosuremay be disposed on an external surface of the absorbent article (i.e.,the outer cover or garment facing-surface). In such an instance, theaperture arrays, patterns, or properties of the same may be the same ordifferent in different regions of the external surface. In one outercover form, effective aperture areas and effective open areas may behigher in a waist region than in a crotch region of the outer cover forbetter breathability. In another outer cover form, the waist regions mayinclude aperture arrays, while the crotch region comprises more uniformaperture patterns. In each of these forms, the effective aperture areaand effective open area, or apertures arrays may provide higher airporosity in the waist region than in the crotch region, allowing moresweat evaporation and better breathability in the tightly occluded waistarea

Feminine Hygiene Products

The apertured webs may also be used as components of absorbent articles,such as feminine hygiene products, including sanitary napkins, liners,and tampons. More than one apertured web may be used in a singlefeminine hygiene product. In a sanitary napkin context, the aperturedwebs may form at least a portion of: a topsheet; a topsheet and anacquisition layer; a topsheet and a distribution layer; a topsheet and asecondary topsheet; a backsheet; an outer cover; an outer cover and abacksheet; wings; wings and a topsheet or a backsheet; a covering for atampon; or any other suitable portion of a feminine hygiene product. Theapertured webs may take on different configurations and patterns of landand aperture areas depending on their particular use in a femininehygiene product. The number of layers in an apertured web may also bedetermined by the apertured webs' particular use. The use of theapertured web in a feminine hygiene article is further disclosed withregard to FIG. 33.

Other Consumer Products

The apertured webs may also be used as components of absorbent articles,such as cleaning substrates, dusting substrates, and/or wipes. More thanone apertured web may be used in a single cleaning or dusting substrateand/or a single wipe. The apertured webs may take on differentconfigurations and patterns of land and aperture areas depending ontheir particular use in a cleaning substrate, dusting substrate, and/ora wipe. The number of layers in a apertured web may also be determinedby the apertured webs' particular use.

Physical Characteristics

The apertured webs of the present disclosure may take on differentphysical characteristics depending on their intended or desired use inabsorbent articles, feminine hygiene products, cleaning substrates,dusting substrates, wipes, or other consumer products. For instance, theproperties of density, basis weight, aperture pattern, land areapattern, caliper, opacity, three-dimensionality, and/or elasticity, forexample, may be varied depending on the desired use of the aperturedweb. More than one apertured web may be combined with other, similar ordifferent, apertured webs in some instances for certain design criteria.

Method of Making

The apertured webs of the present disclosure may be made generally byusing the process generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,097entitled “Method for Selectively Aperturing a Nonwoven Web” which issuedMay 13, 1997 and U.S. Patent Publication 2003/0021951 entitled “HighElongation Apertured Nonwoven Web and Method of Making” which publishedJan. 20, 2003. Additional references include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,658,639;5,916,661; and 7,917,985. This process is described in further detailbelow. Additional processes such as hydroforming carded webs, lasercutting, punching, hot pin, etc. are contemplated. These processes aregenerally known in the art.

Referring to FIG. 11 there is schematically illustrated at 100 oneprocess for forming the apertured webs of the present disclosure. First,a precursor material 102 is supplied as the starting material. Theprecursor material 102 can be supplied as discrete webs, e.g. sheets,patches, etc. of material for batch processing. For commercialprocessing, however, the precursor material 102 may be supplied as rollstock, and, as such it can be considered as having a finite width and aninfinite length. In this context, the length is measured in the machinedirection (MD). Likewise, the width is measured in the cross machinedirection (CD).

The precursor material 102 may be one or more nonwoven materials (sameor different), one or more films (same or different), a combination ofone or more nonwoven materials and one or more films, or any othersuitable materials or combinations thereof. The precursor material 102may be purchased from a supplier and shipped to where the apertured websare being formed or the precursor material 102 formed at the samelocation as where the apertured web are being produced.

The precursor material 102 may be extensible, elastic, or nonelastic.Further, the precursor material 102 may be a single layer material or amultilayer material. In an instance, the precursor material 102 may bejoined to a polymeric film to form a laminate.

The precursor material 102 may comprise or be made of mono-component,bi-component, multi-constituent blends, or multi-component fiberscomprising one or more thermoplastic polymers. In an example, thebi-component fibers of the present disclosure may be formed of apolypropylene core and a polyethylene sheath. Further details regardingbi-component or multi-component fibers and methods of making the samemay be found in U.S. Patent Application Publ. No. 2009/0104831,published on Apr. 23, 2009, U.S. Pat. No. 8,226,625, issued on Jul. 24,2012, U.S. Pat. No. 8,231,595, issued on Jul. 31, 2012, U.S. Pat. No.8,388,594, issued on Mar. 5, 2013, and U.S. Pat. No. 8,226,626, issuedon Jul. 24, 2012. The various fibers may be sheath/core, side-by-side,islands in the sea, or other known configurations of fibers. The fibersmay be round, hollow, or shaped, such as trilobal, ribbon, capillarychannel fibers (e.g., 4 DG). The fibers may comprise microfibers ornanofibers.

The precursor material 102 may be unwound from a supply roll 104 andtravel in a direction indicated by the arrow associated therewith as thesupply roll 104 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrowassociated therewith. The precursor material 102 passes through a nip106 of a weakening roller (or overbonding) arrangement 108 formed byrollers 110 and 112, thereby forming a weakened precursor material. Theweakened precursor material 102 has a pattern of overbonds, or densifiedand weakened areas, after passing through the nip. At least some of, orall of, these overbonds are used to form apertures in the precursormaterial 102. Therefore, the overbonds correlate generally to thepatterns of apertures created in the precursor material 102.

Referring to FIG. 12, the precursor material weakening rollerarrangement 108 may comprises a patterned calendar roller 110 and asmooth anvil roller 112. One or both of the patterned calendar roller110 and the smooth anvil roller 112 may be heated and the pressurebetween the two rollers may be adjusted by known techniques to providethe desired temperature, if any, and pressure to concurrently weaken andmelt-stabilize (i.e., overbond) the precursor material 102 at aplurality of locations 202. As will be discussed in further detailbelow, after the precursor material 102 passes through the weakeningroller arrangement 108, the precursor material 102 may be stretched inthe CD, or generally in the CD, by a cross directional tensioning forceto at least partially, or fully, rupture the plurality of weakened, meltstabilized locations 202, thereby creating a plurality of at leastpartially formed apertures in the precursor material 102 coincident withthe plurality of weakened, melt stabilized locations 202.

The patterned calendar roller 110 is configured to have a cylindricalsurface 114, and a plurality of protuberances or pattern elements 116which extend outwardly from the cylindrical surface 114. The patternelements 116 are illustrated as a simplified example of a patternedcalendar roller 110, but more detailed patterned calendar rollers thatcan be used to produce apertured webs of the present disclosure will beillustrated in subsequent figures. The protuberances 116 may be disposedin a predetermined pattern with each of the protuberances 116 beingconfigured and disposed to precipitate a weakened, melt-stabilizedlocation in the precursor material 102 to affect a predetermined patternof weakened, melt-stabilized locations 202 in the precursor material102. The protuberances 116 may have a one-to-one correspondence to thepattern of melt stabilized locations in the precursor material 102. Asshown in FIG. 12, the patterned calendar roller 110 may have a repeatingpattern of the protuberances 116 which extend about the entirecircumference of surface 114. Alternatively, the protuberances 116 mayextend around a portion, or portions of the circumference of the surface114. Also, a single patterned calendar roller may have a plurality ofpatterns in various zones (i.e., first zone, first pattern, second zone,second pattern).

A photograph of an exemplary roller that may be used as patternedcalendar roller 110 in the process 100 of FIG. 11 to produce theapertured webs of the present disclosure are illustrated in FIG. 13. Thepattern of protuberances 116 on the rollers in FIG. 13 would be formedin the precursor web 102, much like the melt-stabilized locations 202 ofFIG. 12. Exemplary apertured webs produced from the various rolls aftercross-directional tensioning of the precursor material 102 areillustrated in FIGS. 14, 15, and 16, with the apertures being indicatedas element 204 and the land areas (i.e., non-apertured areas) beingindicated as element 205. As seen in FIGS. 14, 15, and 16, apertures 204and/or aperture arrays have been formed in the webs 102. The land areas205 in FIGS. 14, 15, and 16 correspond to areas in the precursormaterial 102 that have not been melt stabilized or overbonded. Statedanother way, the land areas have not been contacted by a protuberance onthe roller 110.

The protuberances 116 may extend radially outwardly from surface 114 andhave distal end surfaces 117. The anvil roller 112 may be a smoothsurfaced, circular cylinder of steel, rubber or other material. Theanvil roller 112 and the patterned calendar roller 110 may be switchedin position (i.e., anvil on top) and achieve the same result.

From the weakening roller arrangement 108, the material 102 passesthrough a nip 130 formed by an incremental stretching system 132employing opposed pressure applicators having three-dimensional surfaceswhich at least to a degree may be complementary to one another.

Referring now to FIG. 17, there is shown a fragmentary enlarged view ofthe incremental stretching system 132 comprising two incrementalstretching rollers 134 and 136. The incremental stretching roller 134may comprise a plurality of teeth 160 and corresponding grooves 161which may about the entire circumference of roller 134. The incrementalstretching roller 136 may comprise a plurality of teeth 162 and aplurality of corresponding grooves 163. The teeth 160 on the roller 134may intermesh with or engage the grooves 163 on the roller 136 while theteeth 162 on the roller 136 may intermesh with or engage the grooves 161on the roller 134. As the precursor material 102 having weakened,melt-stabilized locations 202 passes through the incremental stretchingsystem 132 the precursor material 102 is subjected to tensioning in theCD causing the material 102 to be extended (or activated) in the CD, orgenerally in the CD. Additionally the material 102 may be tensioned inthe MD, or generally in the MD. The CD tensioning force placed on thematerial 102 is adjusted such that it causes the weakened,melt-stabilized locations 202 to at least partially, or fully, rupturethereby creating a plurality of partially formed, or formed apertures204 coincident with the weakened melt-stabilized locations 202 in thematerial 102. However, the bonds of the material 102 (in thenon-overbonded areas) are strong enough such that they do not ruptureduring tensioning, thereby maintaining the material 102 in a coherentcondition even as the weakened, melt-stabilized locations rupture.However, it may be desirable to have some of the bonds rupture duringtensioning.

Referring to FIG. 18, a more detailed view of the teeth 160 and 162 andthe grooves 161 and 163 on the rollers 134 and 136 is illustrated. Theterm “pitch” refers to the distance between the apexes of adjacentteeth. The pitch may be between about 0.02 inches to about 0.30 inches(about 0.51 mm to about 7.62 mm) or may be between about 0.05 inches andabout 0.15 inches (about 1.27 mm to about 3.81 mm), specificallyreciting all 0.001 inch increments within the above-specified ranges andall ranges formed therein or thereby. The height (or depth) of the teethis measured from the base of the tooth to the apex of the tooth, and mayor may not be equal for all teeth. The height of the teeth may bebetween about 0.010 inches (about 0.254 mm) and about 0.90 inches (about22.9 mm) or may be between about 0.025 inches (about 0.635 mm) and about0.50 inches (about 12.7 mm), specifically reciting all 0.01 inchincrements within the above-specified ranges and all ranges formedtherein or thereby. The teeth 160 in one roll may be offset by aboutone-half of the pitch from the teeth 162 in the other roll, such thatthe teeth of one roll (e.g., teeth 160) mesh in the valley (e.g., groove163) between teeth in the mating roll. The offset permits intermeshingof the two rolls when the rolls are “engaged” or in an intermeshing,operative position relative to one another. The teeth of the respectiverolls may only be partially intermeshing in some instances. The degreeto which the teeth on the opposing rolls intermesh is referred to hereinas the “depth of engagement” or “DOE” of the teeth. The DOE may beconstant or not constant. As shown in FIG. 18, the DOE, indicated as“E”, is the distance between a position designated by plane P1 where theapexes of the teeth on the respective rolls are in the same plane (0%engagement) to a position designated by plane P2 where the apexes of theteeth of one roll extend inward beyond the plane P1 toward the groove onthe opposing roll. The optimum or effective DOE for particular laminatewebs may be dependent upon the height and the pitch of the teeth and/orthe structure of the material. Some example DOEs may in the range ofabout 0.01 inches to about 0.5 inches, about 0.03 inches to about 0.2inches, about 0.04 inches to about 0.08 inches, about 0.05 inches, orabout 0.06 inches, specifically reciting all 0.001 inch incrementswithin the above-specified ranges and all ranges formed therein orthereby.

As the material 102 having the weakened, melt-stabilized locations 202passes through the incremental web stretching apparatus 132, thematerial 102 is subjected to tensioning in the cross machine direction,or substantially in the cross machine direction, thereby causing thenonwoven web 102 to be extended in the cross machine direction. Thetensioning force placed on the material 102 may be adjusted by varyingthe pitch, DOE, or teeth size, such that the incremental stretching issufficient to cause the weakened, melt-stabilized locations 202 to atleast partially, or fully rupture, thereby creating, or at leastpartially creating, a plurality of apertures 204 coincident with theweakened, melt-stabilized locations 202 in the material 102.

After the material 102 passes through the incremental web stretchingapparatus 132, the web 102 may be advanced to and at least partiallyaround a cross machine directional tensioning apparatus 132′ (see e.g.,FIGS. 11 and 19). The cross machine directional tensioning apparatus132′ may be offset from the main processing line by running the webpartially around two idlers 133 and 135 or stationary bars, for example.In other instances, the cross machine tensioning apparatus 132′ may bepositioned in line with the main processing line. The cross machinedirectional tensioning apparatus 132′ may comprise a roll that comprisesat least one outer longitudinal portion that expands along alongitudinal axis, A, of the roll, relative to a middle portion of theroll, to stretch and/or expand the material 102 in the cross machinedirection. Instead of or in addition to expanding along the longitudinalaxis, A, of the roll, the outer longitudinal portion may be angledrelative to the longitudinal axis, A, of the roll in a direction awayfrom the material 102 being advanced over the roll to stretch thematerial 102 in the cross machine direction or generally in the crossmachine direction. In an instance, the roll may comprise two outerlongitudinal portions that each may expand in opposite directionsgenerally along the longitudinal axis, A, of the roll. The two outerportions may both be angled downwards in a direction away from thematerial 102 being advanced over the roll. This movement or positioningof the outer longitudinal portions of the roll allows for generallycross machine directional tensioning of the material 102, which causesthe plurality of weakened locations 202 to rupture and/or be furtherdefined or formed into apertures 204.

The outer longitudinal portions of the roll may comprise vacuum, a lowtack adhesive, a high coefficient of friction material or surface, suchas rubber, and/or other mechanisms and/or materials to hold the material102 to the outer lateral portions of the roll during movement of theouter longitudinal portion or portions relative to the middle portion ofthe roll. The vacuum, low tack adhesive, high coefficient of frictionmaterial or surface, and/or other mechanisms and/or materials mayprevent, or at least inhibit, the held portions of the material 102 fromslipping relative to the longitudinal axis, A, of the roll duringstretching of the outer lateral portions of the material in the crossmachine direction or generally in the cross machine direction.

FIG. 19 is a top perspective view of the example cross machinedirectional tensioning apparatus 132′. The cross machine directionaltensioning apparatus 132′ may comprise a roll comprising a middleportion 2000 and two outer longitudinal portions 2020 situated on eitherend of the middle portion 2000. The roll may rotate about itslongitudinal axis, A, on a drive shaft 2040. The roll may rotaterelative to the drive shaft 2040 or in unison with the drive shaft 2040,as will be recognized by those of skill in the art. The material 102 maybe advanced over the entire cross machine directional width of themiddle portion 2000 and at least portions of the cross machinedirectional widths of the outer longitudinal portions 2020. The material102 may be advanced over at least about 5% up to about 80% of thecircumference of the roll so that the cross machine directionalstretching may be performed.

FIG. 20 is a schematic representation of a front view of an examplecross machine directional tensioning apparatus with outer longitudinalportions 2020 in an unexpanded or non-angled position relative to themiddle portion 2000. FIG. 21 is a schematic representation of a frontview of the cross machine directional tensioning apparatus of FIG. 20with the outer longitudinal portions 2020 in a longitudinally expandedposition relative to the middle portion 2000. FIG. 22 is a schematicrepresentation of a front view of the cross machine directionaltensioning apparatus of FIG. 20 with the outer longitudinal portions2020 in an angled and expanded position relative to the middle portion2000. In regard to FIG. 22, the outer longitudinal portions 2020 maymerely move or slide in a direction generally perpendicular to themachine direction of the material passing over the roll to apply thecross machine directional tensioning force to the material 102. FIG. 23is a schematic representation of a front view of a cross machinedirectional tensioning apparatus with the outer longitudinal portions2020 fixed in an angled position relative to the middle portion 2000 toapply the cross machine directional tensioning force to the material102. In such a form, the middle portion 2000 and each of the outerlongitudinal portions 2020 may comprise a separate roll.

Regardless of whether one or both of the outer longitudinal portions2020 is moved, slid, rotated, fixed, and/or expanded relative to themiddle portion 2000, this relative motion or positioning between theouter longitudinal portions 2020 and the middle portion 2000 stretchesthe materials 102 in a cross machine direction to further rupture orfurther define the weakened locations 2020 in the material 102 andcreate, or further form, a plurality the apertures 2040 the material102. The cross machine directional tensioning force applied by the crossmachine directional tensioning apparatus 132′ may be, for example, 10-25grams or 15 grams. In an instance, the cross machine directionaltensioning apparatus may be similar to, or the same as, the incrementalstretching apparatus 132 to apply the cross machine directionaltensioning force. In still other instances, any suitable cross machinedirectional tensioning apparatus may be used to apply the cross machinedirectional tensioning force to the material 102.

If desired, the incremental stretching step or the cross machinedirectional stretching step described herein may be performed atelevated temperatures. For example, the material 102 and/or the rollsmay be heated. Utilizing heat in the stretching step may serve to softenthe material, and may aid in extending the fibers without breaking.

Referring again to FIG. 11, the material 102 may be taken up on wind-uproll 180 and stored. Alternatively, the material 102 may be fed directlyto a production line where it is used to form a portion of an absorbentarticle or other consumer product.

It is important to note that the overbonding step illustrated in FIGS.11 and 12 could be performed by the material supplier and then thematerial may be shipped to a consumer product manufacturer to performstep 132. In fact, the overbonding step may be used in the nonwovenproduction process to form overbonds, which may be in addition to, or inlieu of, primary bonds formed in the nonwoven production process.Alternatively, the material supplier may fully perform the stepsillustrated in FIG. 11 and then the material may be shipped to theconsumer product manufacturer. The consumer product manufacturer mayalso perform all of the steps in FIG. 11 after obtaining a nonwovenmaterial from a nonwoven material manufacturer.

One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that it may beadvantageous to submit the material 102 to multiple incrementalstretching processes depending on various desired characteristics of thefinished product. Both the first and any additional incrementalstretching may either be done on-line or off-line. Furthermore, one ofordinary skill will recognize that the incremental stretching may bedone either over the entire area of the material or only in certainregions of the material depending on the final desired characteristics.

Returning now to FIGS. 14, 15, and 16, there is shown photographs ofexample apertured webs after having been subjected to the tensioningforce applied by the incremental stretching system 132 and the crossmachine directional tensioning apparatus 132′. As can be seen in thephotographs of FIGS. 14, 15, and 16, the apertured webs now include aplurality of apertures 204 which are coincident with the weakened,melt-stabilized locations made by the rolls 17-19, respectively. Aportion of the circumferential edges of an aperture 204 may includeremnants of the melt-stabilized locations. It is believed that theremnants help to resist further tearing of the material particularlywhen the material is used as a portion of an absorbent article oranother consumer product.

Percent of Cd Stretch

The extent to which the material 102 is stretched in the CD may have acorrelation to the size, shape, and area of the apertures. In general,the apertures may have a larger area and be more open the more thematerial 102 is stretched in the CD direction by the cross machinedirectional tensioning apparatus 132′. As such, a manufacturer canfurther vary an aperture pattern based on the amount of CD tensioningapplied to a material even when the melt-stabilized pattern in thematerial is the same. As an example, FIG. 24 illustrates an overbondpattern in a material 102 prior to the incrementally stretching step 132and the cross machine directional tension step 132. The plurality ofmelt stabilized locations are indicated as 202. The material is then runthrough the incrementally stretching step 132 and the cross machinedirectional tensioning apparatus 132′. The cross machine directionaltensioning apparatus 132′ may be set to extend the material 102 to over100% of its CD width “W” after exiting the incremental stretchingapparatus 132, such as 125%, 135%, 145%, 155% of W. In other instances,the material 102 may be stretched in the cross machine direction in therange of about 110% to about 180% of W, about 120% to about 170% of W,specifically reciting all 0.5% increments within the specified rangesand all ranged formed therein or thereby. FIG. 25 illustrates an exampleof the material 102 with the overbond pattern of FIG. 24 and stretchedto 125% of W. FIG. 26 illustrates an example of the material 102 withthe overbond pattern of FIG. 24 and stretched to 135% of W. FIG. 27illustrates an example of the material 102 with the overbond pattern ofFIG. 24 and stretched to 145% of W. FIG. 28 illustrates an example ofthe material 102 with the overbond pattern of FIG. 24 and stretched to155% of W. As illustrated, the amount of CD stretch can be a significantfactor on the apertured web produced.

Other suitable processes for forming apertures in a web are described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 8,679,391 and 8,158,043, and U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication Nos. 2001/0024940 and 2012/0282436. Other suitable processesare described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,566,726; 4,634,440; and 4,780,352.

Absorbent Article

As described herein, the apertured webs of the present disclosure may beused as one or more components of an absorbent article. An exampleabsorbent article is set forth below. FIG. 29 is a plan view of anexample absorbent article that is a diaper 520 in its flat-out,uncontracted state (i.e., with elastic induced contraction pulled out)with portions of the structure being cut-away to more clearly show theconstruction of the diaper 520 and with the portion of the diaper 520which faces the wearer, the inner surface 540, facing the viewer. Thediaper 520 may comprise a chassis 522 comprising a liquid pervioustopsheet 524, a liquid impervious backsheet 526 joined to the topsheet,and an absorbent core 528 positioned at least partially between thetopsheet 524 and the backsheet 526. The diaper 520 may compriseelasticized side panels 530, elasticized leg cuffs 532, elasticizedwaistbands 534, and a fastening system 536 that may comprise a pair ofsecurement members 537 and a landing member (not illustrated) on agarment-facing surface or outer surface 542. The diaper 520 may alsocomprise an outer cover 533 that may comprise one or more of thepatterned adhesive webs of the present disclosure. The outer cover 533may comprise nonwoven materials and/or films.

The diaper 520 is shown to have an inner surface 40 (facing the viewerin FIG. 29), an outer surface 542 opposed to the inner surface 540, arear waist region 544, a front waist region 546 opposed to the rearwaist region 544, a crotch region 548 positioned between the rear waistregion 544 and the front waist region 546, and a periphery which isdefined by the outer perimeter or edges of the diaper 520 in which thelongitudinal edges are designated 550 and the end edges are designated552. The inner surface 540 of the diaper 520 comprises that portion ofthe diaper 520 which is positioned adjacent to the wearer's body duringuse (i.e., the inner surface 540 generally is formed by at least aportion of the topsheet 524 and other components joined to the topsheet524). The outer surface 542 comprises that portion of the diaper 520which is positioned away from the wearer's body (i.e., the outer surface542 is generally formed by at least a portion of the backsheet 526 andother components joined to the backsheet 526). The rear waist region 544and the front waist region 546 extend from the end edges 552 of theperiphery to the crotch region 548.

The diaper 520 also has two centerlines, a longitudinal centerline 590and a transverse centerline 592. The term “longitudinal”, as usedherein, refers to a line, axis, or direction in the plane of the diaper520 that is generally aligned with (e.g., approximately parallel with) avertical plane which bisects a standing wearer into left and righthalves when the diaper 520 is worn. The terms “transverse” and“lateral”, as used herein, are interchangeable and refer to a line, axisor direction which lies within the plane of the diaper that is generallyperpendicular to the longitudinal direction (which divides the wearerinto front and back body halves).

The chassis 522 of the diaper 520 is shown in FIG. 29 as comprising themain body of the diaper 520. The containment assembly 522 may compriseat least the topsheet 524, the backsheet 526, and the absorbent core528. When the absorbent article 520 comprises a separate holder and aliner, the chassis 522 may comprise the holder and the liner (i.e., thechassis 522 comprises one or more layers of material to define theholder while the liner comprises an absorbent composite such as atopsheet, a backsheet, and an absorbent core.) For unitary absorbentarticles (or one piece), the chassis 522 comprises the main structure ofthe diaper with other features added to form the composite diaperstructure. Thus, the chassis 522 for the diaper 520 generally comprisesthe topsheet 524, the backsheet 526, and the absorbent core 528.

FIG. 29 shows a form of the chassis 522 in which the topsheet 524 andthe backsheet 526 have length and width dimensions generally larger thanthose of the absorbent core 528. The topsheet 524 and the backsheet 526extend beyond the edges of the absorbent core 528 to thereby form theperiphery of the diaper 520. While the topsheet 524, the backsheet 526,and the absorbent core 528 may be assembled in a variety of well-knownconfigurations know to those of skill in the art.

The absorbent core 528 may be any absorbent member which is generallycompressible, conformable, non-irritating to the wearer's skin, andcapable of absorbing and retaining liquids such as urine and othercertain body exudates. As shown in FIG. 29, the absorbent core 528 has agarment-facing side, a body-facing side, a pair of side edges, and apair of waist edges. The absorbent core 528 may be manufactured in awide variety of sizes and shapes (e.g., rectangular, hourglass,“T”-shaped, asymmetric, etc.) and from a wide variety ofliquid-absorbent materials commonly used in disposable diapers and otherabsorbent articles such as comminuted wood pulp which is generallyreferred to as airfelt. The absorbent core may comprise superabsorbentpolymers (SAP) and less than 15%, less than 10%, less than 5%, less than3%, or less than 1% of airfelt, or be completely free of airfelt.Examples of other suitable absorbent materials comprise creped cellulosewadding, meltblown polymers including coform, chemically stiffened,modified or cross-linked cellulosic fibers, tissue including tissuewraps and tissue laminates, absorbent foams, absorbent sponges,superabsorbent polymers, absorbent gelling materials, or any equivalentmaterial or combinations of materials.

The configuration and construction of the absorbent core 528 may vary(e.g., the absorbent core may have varying caliper zones, a hydrophilicgradient, a superabsorbent gradient, or lower average density and loweraverage basis weight acquisition zones; or may comprise one or morelayers or structures). Further, the size and absorbent capacity of theabsorbent core 528 may also be varied to accommodate wearers rangingfrom infants through adults. However, the total absorbent capacity ofthe absorbent core 528 should be compatible with the design loading andthe intended use of the diaper 520.

Referring to FIGS. 30-32, the absorbent core 528 of the absorbentarticles may comprise one or more channels 626, 626′, 627, 627′ (627 and627′ are shown in dash in FIG. 30), such as two, three, four, five, orsix channels. The absorbent core 528 may comprise a front side 280, arear side 282, and two longitudinal sides 284, 286 joining the frontside 280 and the rear side 282. The absorbent core 528 may comprise oneor more absorbent materials. The absorbent material 628 of the absorbentcore 528 may be distributed in higher amounts towards the front side 280than towards the rear side 282 as more absorbency may be required at thefront of the absorbent core 528 in particular absorbent articles. Thefront side 280 may be positioned generally in the front waist region ofan absorbent article and the rear side 282 may be positioned generallyin the rear waist region of an absorbent article.

A core wrap (i.e., the layers enclosing the absorbent material of theabsorbent core 528) may be formed by two nonwoven materials, substrates,laminates, films, or other materials 616, 616′. The core wrap may be atleast partially sealed along the front side 280, the rear side 282,and/or the two longitudinal sides 284, 286 of the absorbent core 528 sothat substantially no absorbent material is able to exit the core wrap.In a form, the core wrap may only comprise a single material, substrate,laminate, or other material wrapped at least partially around itself.The first material, substrate, or nonwoven 616 may at least partiallysurround a portion of the second material, substrate, or nonwoven 116′to form the core wrap, as illustrated as an example in FIG. 31. Thefirst material 616 may surround a portion of the second material 616′proximate to the first and second side edges 284 and 286 and/or thefront side 280 and the rear side 282.

The absorbent core 528 of the present disclosure may comprise one ormore adhesives, for example, to help immobilize the SAP or otherabsorbent materials within the core wrap and/or to ensure integrity ofthe core wrap, in particular when the core wrap is made of two or moresubstrates. The core wrap may extend to a larger area than required forcontaining the absorbent material(s) within.

Absorbent cores comprising relatively high amounts of SAP with variouscore designs are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,599,335 to Goldman et al.,EP 1,447,066 to Busam et al., WO 95/11652 to Tanzer et al., U.S. Pat.Publ. No. 2008/0312622A1 to Hundorf et al., and WO 2012/052172 to VanMalderen.

The absorbent material may comprise one or more continuous layerspresent within the core wrap with channels having no, or little (e.g.,0.1%-10%) absorbent material positioned therein. In other forms, theabsorbent material may be formed as individual pockets or stripes withinthe core wrap. In the first case, the absorbent material may be, forexample, obtained by the application of the continuous layer(s) ofabsorbent material, with the exception of the absorbent material free,or substantially free, channels. The continuous layer(s) of absorbentmaterial, in particular of SAP, may also be obtained by combining twoabsorbent layers having discontinuous absorbent material applicationpatterns, wherein the resulting layer is substantially continuouslydistributed across the absorbent particulate polymer material area, asdisclosed in U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2008/0312622A1 to Hundorf et al.,for example. The absorbent core 528 may comprise a first absorbent layerand at least a second absorbent layer. The first absorbent layer maycomprise the first material 616 and a first layer 661 of absorbentmaterial, which may be 100% or less of SAP, such as 85% to 100% SAP, 90%to 100% SAP, or even 95% to 100% SAP, specifically including all 0.5%increments within the specified ranges and all ranges formed therein orthereby. The second absorbent layer may comprise the second material616′ and a second layer 662 of absorbent material, which may also be100% or less of SAP (including the ranges specified above). Theabsorbent core 528 may also comprise a fibrous thermoplastic adhesivematerial 651 at least partially bonding each layer of the absorbentmaterial 661, 662 to its respective material 616, 616′. This isillustrated in FIGS. 31 and 32, as an example, where the first andsecond SAP layers have been applied as transversal stripes or “landareas” having the same width as the desired absorbent materialdeposition area on their respective substrate before being combined. Thestripes may comprise different amount of absorbent material (SAP) toprovide a profiled basis weight along the longitudinal axis 580′ of thecore 528.

The fibrous thermoplastic adhesive material 651 may be at leastpartially in contact with the absorbent material 661, 662 in the landareas and at least partially in contact with the materials 616 and 616′in the channels 626, 626′. This imparts an essentially three-dimensionalstructure to the fibrous layer of thermoplastic adhesive material 651,which in itself is essentially a two-dimensional structure of relativelysmall thickness, as compared to the dimension in length and widthdirections. Thereby, the fibrous thermoplastic adhesive material 651 mayprovide cavities to cover the absorbent material in the land areas, andthereby immobilizes this absorbent material, which may be 100% or lessof SAP (including the ranges specified above).

The channels 626, 626′ may be continuous or discontinuous and may have alength of L′ and a width, W_(c), for example, or any other suitablelength or width. The channels 626, 626′, 627, and 627′ may have alateral vector component and a longitudinal vector component or mayextend entirely longitudinally or entirely laterally. The channels mayeach have one or more arcuate portions. One or more channels may extendacross the lateral axis or the longitudinal axis 580′ of the absorbentcore 528, or both.

Referring to FIG. 31, it can be seen that the channels 626 and 626′ donot comprise absorbent material. In other instances, the channels 626and 626′ may comprise a relatively small amount (compared to the amountof the absorbent material within the remainder of the absorbent core528) of absorbent material. The relatively small amount of absorbentmaterial within the channels may be in the range of 0.1% to 20%,specifically reciting all 0.1% increments within the specified rangesand all ranges formed therein.

Referring again to FIG. 30, the absorbent core 528 may comprise one ormore pockets 650 (shown in dash). The one or more pockets 650 may beprovided in addition to the one or more channels or instead of the oneor more channels. The pockets 650 may be areas in the absorbent core 528that are free of, or substantially free of absorbent material, such asSAP (including the ranges specified above). The pockets 650 may overlapthe longitudinal axis 580′ and may be positioned proximate to the frontside 280, the rear side 282, or may be positioned at a locationintermediate the front side 280 and the rear side 282, such aslongitudinally centrally, or generally longitudinally centrally betweenthe front side 280 and the rear side 282.

Other forms and more details regarding channels and pockets that arefree of, or substantially free of absorbent materials, such as SAP,within absorbent cores are discussed in greater detail in U.S. PatentApplication Publication Nos. 2014/0163500, 2014/0163506, and2014/0163511, all published on Jun. 12, 2014.

The diaper 520 may have an asymmetric, modified T-shaped absorbent core528 having ears in the front waist region 546 but a generallyrectangular shape in the rear waist region 544. Example absorbentstructures for use as the absorbent core 528 of the present disclosurethat have achieved wide acceptance described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,678,entitled “High-Density Absorbent Structures” issued to Weisman et al.,on Sep. 9, 1986; U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,402, entitled “Absorbent ArticlesWith Dual-Layered Cores”, issued to Weisman et al., on Jun. 16, 1987;U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,231, entitled “Absorbent Core Having A DustingLayer”, issued to Angstadt on Dec. 19, 1989; and U.S. Pat. No.4,834,735, entitled “High Density Absorbent Members Having Lower Densityand Lower Basis Weight Acquisition Zones”, issued to Alemany et al., onMay 30, 1989. The absorbent core may further comprise the dual coresystem containing an acquisition/distribution core of chemicallystiffened fibers positioned over an absorbent storage core as detailedin U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,423, entitled “Absorbent Article With ElasticWaist Feature and Enhanced Absorbency” issued to Alemany et al., on Aug.10, 1993; and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,345 entitled “High EfficiencyAbsorbent Articles For Incontinence Management”, issued to Young et al.on Sep. 15, 1992.

The backsheet 526 is positioned adjacent the garment-facing surface ofthe absorbent core 528 and may be joined thereto by attachment methods(not shown) such as those well known in the art. For example, thebacksheet 526 may be secured to the absorbent core 528 by a uniformcontinuous layer of adhesive, a patterned layer of adhesive, or an arrayof separate lines, spirals, or spots of adhesive. Alternatively, theattachment methods may comprise using heat bonds, pressure bonds,ultrasonic bonds, dynamic mechanical bonds, or any other suitableattachment methods or combinations of these attachment methods as areknown in the art. Forms of the present disclosure are also contemplatedwherein the absorbent core is not joined to the backsheet 526, thetopsheet 524, or both in order to provide greater extensibility in thefront waist region 546 and the rear waist region 544.

The backsheet 526 may be impervious, or substantially impervious, toliquids (e.g., urine) and may be manufactured from a thin plastic film,although other flexible liquid impervious materials may also be used. Asused herein, the term “flexible” refers to materials which are compliantand will readily conform to the general shape and contours of the humanbody. The backsheet 526 may prevent, or at least inhibit, the exudatesabsorbed and contained in the absorbent core 528 from wetting articleswhich contact the diaper 520 such as bed sheets and undergarments,however, the backsheet 526 may permit vapors to escape from theabsorbent core 528 (i.e., is breathable). Thus, the backsheet 526 maycomprise a polymeric film such as thermoplastic films of polyethylene orpolypropylene. A suitable material for the backsheet 526 is athermoplastic film having a thickness of from about 0.012 mm (0.5 mil)to about 0.051 mm (2.0 mils), for example. The topsheet 524 ispositioned adjacent the body-facing surface of the absorbent core 528and may be joined thereto and to the backsheet 526 by attachment methods(not shown) such as those well known in the art. Suitable attachmentmethods are described with respect to joining the backsheet 526 to theabsorbent core 528. The topsheet 524 and the backsheet 526 may be joineddirectly to each other in the diaper periphery and may be indirectlyjoined together by directly joining them to the absorbent core 528 bythe attachment methods (not shown).

The topsheet 524 may be compliant, soft feeling, and non-irritating tothe wearer's skin. Further, the topsheet 524 may be liquid perviouspermitting liquids (e.g., urine) to readily penetrate through itsthickness. A suitable topsheet 524 may comprise one or more of theapertured webs of the present disclosure forming one or more layers. Asdescribed herein, the apertured webs of the present disclosure may formany other suitable components of an absorbent article or the examplediaper 520, such as an over cover, an ear panel, and/or an acquisitionmaterial, for example.

Sanitary Napkin

Referring to FIG. 33, the absorbent article may be a sanitary napkin310. A topsheet, a secondary topsheet, wings, or another portion of thesanitary napkin may comprise one or more of the apertured webs of thepresent disclosure. The sanitary napkin 310 may comprise a liquidpermeable topsheet 314, a liquid impermeable, or substantially liquidimpermeable, backsheet 316, and an absorbent core 318 positionedintermediate the topsheet 314 and the backsheet 316. The absorbent core318 may have any or all of the features described herein with respect tothe absorbent cores 528 and, in some forms, may have a secondarytopsheet instead of the acquisition layer(s) disclosed above. Thesanitary napkin 310 may comprise wings 320 extending outwardly withrespect to a longitudinal axis 380 of the sanitary napkin 310. Thesanitary napkin 310 may also comprise a lateral axis 390. The wings 320may be joined to the topsheet 314, the backsheet 316, and/or theabsorbent core 318. The sanitary napkin 310 may also comprise a frontedge 322, a rear edge 324 longitudinally opposing the front edge 322, afirst side edge 326, and a second side edge 328 laterally opposing thefirst side edge 326. The longitudinal axis 380 may extend from amidpoint of the front edge 322 to a midpoint of the rear edge 324. Thelateral axis 390 may extend from a midpoint of the first side edge 328to a midpoint of the second side edge 328. The sanitary napkin 310 mayalso be provided with additional features commonly found in sanitarynapkins as is known in the art.

For those instances where the apertured webs of the present inventionare utilized as a topsheet, 314, arrays of apertures may not cover allof the topsheet 314. For example, an array of apertures may be disposedadjacent to the longitudinal axis 380 while further outboard of thelongitudinal axis 380, the topsheet 314 may comprise no array ofapertures. The array of apertures may straddle the longitudinal axis 380and extend laterally outboard therefrom such that the array of aperturesis about 10 mm wide. In some forms, the array of apertures is about 15mm wide, about 20 mm wide, about 30 mm wide, about 35 mm wide, about 40mm wide, about 45 mm wide, about 50 mm wide, or about 55 mm wideincluding all values and ranges included therein. Yet in other forms,the array of apertures may extend the full width of the topsheet 314 andextend from the first side edge 326 to the second side edge 328.

Forms of the present invention are contemplated where apertured webs ofthe present invention comprise structures as described herein in thenegative Z-direction. In such forms, the urging of the material of theapertured web in the negative Z-direction may fracture material of anabsorbent core or a portion thereof. As shown in FIG. 89, a sanitarypad, or portion thereof, may comprise the apertured web 8914, anabsorbent material 8918, and a support layer 8916. As shown thestructures described herein may cause fracturing of the absorbentmaterial 8918, particularly where the absorbent material comprises ahigh internal phase emulsion foam. However, other forms of the inventionare contemplated where the absorbent material 8918 comprises SAP. Stillin other forms, the apertured web 8914 may comprise the topsheet, theabsorbent material 8918 may comprise a first liquid retention layer, andthe support layer 8916 may comprise a secondary topsheet or acquisitionlayer. In such forms, additional absorbent cores in addition to abacksheet may be provided.

The depressions in the apertured web 8914 and absorbent material 8918may extend through the thickness of the absorbent material 8918 suchthat a plurality of discrete pieces of absorbent material are produced.In other forms, the depressions in the apertured web 8914 and theabsorbent material 8918 may only partially extend through the thicknessof the absorbent material 8916 such that absorbent material remains acontinuous element.

High internal phase emulsion foams are known in the art. Methods ofmaking high internal phase emulsion foams are described in U.S. Pat. No.5,149,720 (DesMarais et al), issued Sep. 22, 1992; U.S. Pat. No.5,827,909 (DesMarais) issued Oct. 27, 1998; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,369,121(Catalfamo et al.) issued Apr. 9, 2002.

Patterned Adhesive

As stated previously, the adhesive utilized to bond/join layers and/orelements of disposable absorbent articles using the apertured web of thepresent invention may comprise adhesive indicia. Accordingly, theapertured webs and/or absorbent articles of the present disclosure, orportions thereof, may comprise one or more patterned adhesives appliedthereto or printed thereon. The patterned adhesives may be presentwithin the apertured webs or under the apertured webs such that at leasta portion of the patterned adhesives can be viewable through theapertured webs, either though apertures or land areas. Patternedadhesives are adhesives that are applied to one or more layers of theapertured webs, or between layers of the same, in particular patterns toprovide the absorbent articles, or portions thereof, with certainpatterns, visible patterns, and/or certain textures. Examples of printedadhesive patterns are illustrated in FIGS. 34, 35 and 82-88.

In FIGS. 34 and 35, element 406, as an example, is a non-apertured layerof a apertured web onto which the patterned adhesive is applied, element410 is a surface of the layer 406 to which the patterned adhesive isapplied, element 430 is a fluid that is applied to the layer 406, suchas an adhesive, and element 432 is a discrete pattern area. The twofigures illustrate some examples of patterned adhesives that may be usedin the apertured webs of the present disclosure. Other adhesive patternshaving any suitable configuration are also within the scope of thepresent disclosure. The patterned adhesives may be printed on orotherwise applied to any suitable layer of the apertured webs or appliedabove or beneath them. Methods for applying patterned adhesives tolayers or substrates by adhesive printing are disclosed, for example, inU.S. Pat. No. 8,186,296, to Brown et al., issued on May 29, 2012, and inU.S. Pat. Appl. Publ. No., 2014/0148774, published on May 29, 2014, toBrown et al. Other methods of applying patterned adhesives to substratesknown to those of skill in the art are also within the scope of thepresent disclosure.

A patterned adhesive may have the same color or a different color as atleast one layer of an apertured web. In some instances, the patternedadhesive may have the same or a different color as both or all layers ofan apertured web. In some instances, aperture patterns in at least onelayer of a apertured web may coordinate with a patterned of a patternedadhesive to visually create a three-dimensional appearance. Theapertured patterns may be the same or different than patterns of thepatterned adhesive.

In an instance, an apertured web may comprise a first layer comprising aplurality of apertures and a plurality of land areas and a second layercomprising a plurality of apertures and a plurality of land areas. Apatterned pigmented substance, such as ink or a patterned adhesive, maybe positioned at least partially intermediate the first layer and thesecond layer. The plurality of apertures of the first layer may be atleast partially misaligned with the plurality of apertures of the secondlayer (see e.g., FIG. 8). The patterned pigmented or colored substance(29 of FIG. 8) may be at least partially viewable through the misalignedportions of the apertures in the first and second layers.

Regarding FIGS. 82-84, a plurality of overbonds are shown on a webarranged in a plurality of arrays which will eventually—when processedas described herein—produce apertured indicia. In FIG. 83 adhesiveindicia on a web is depicted. As noted previously, the adhesive maycomprise a color or may be clear in some forms. Regarding FIG. 84, acombination of the overbonds of FIG. 82 and the adhesive indicia of FIG.83 are shown. Note that given the arrangement of the overbonds of FIG.82, the resulting apertured indicia would appear similar (coordinated)with the adhesive indicia shown in FIG. 83. In such forms, it may bebeneficial to register the apertured indicia with the adhesive indiciato produce the desired visual effect. Adhesive indicia and aperturedindicia which may not require registration are depicted in FIGS. 85-87.A similar effect is depicted in FIG. 88.

Regarding FIG. 88, a combination of apertured indicia and adhesiveindicia is shown on a web. The apertured indicia and the adhesiveindicia are not registered. As such, portions of the adhesive indiciaare visible through only a portion of the apertures. The effect canhighlight portions of the adhesive indicia which are visible through theapertures. The remainder of the adhesive indicia may still be visiblethrough the web which comprises the apertured indicia.

Patterns

The apertures in at least one layer of an apertured web may be groupedin spaced arrays of apertures (see e.g., FIGS. 1-4 and 40-53). Anaperture array includes two or more apertures having much closer spacingbetween the apertures than the distance between the aperture arrays. Thedistance between the array and other apertures is at least about 1.5, atleast about 2 times, or at least about 3 times the Interaperturedistance between apertures in the array. The aperture arrays may form aregular or recognizable shape, such as a heart shape, polygon, ellipse,arrow, chevron, and/or other shapes known in the pattern art. Theapertures arrays may differ in one portion of the apertured web comparedto another portion of the apertured web. In an absorbent articlecontext, the aperture arrays may differ in one region of the absorbentarticle compared to another region of the absorbent article.Additionally, the aperture arrays may be coordinated in regions of theabsorbent article where the aperture arrays are present. The aperturesof the aperture arrays may perimeters which are concave, convex, or mayinclude concavities and convexities. The aperture arrays may beorganized into “macro-arrays” having a higher order structure. Forexample, an apertured web may comprise aperture arrays that may beseparated by a continuous, inter-connected land area pattern. In such aninstance, the land area pattern may function as a fluid distributionpathway and the aperture arrays may function as fluid “drains” therebypromoting fluid access to the underlying absorbent material or absorbentcore. The shape of the aperture arrays may enhance the ability of thearrays to manage fluid, such as bodily exudates (i.e., urine, runny BM,menses). For example, aperture arrays including a concavity facing afluid insult location in an absorbent article may function as fluidcollection “traps” as the fluid may travel along the “land area” in theconcavity to a point where the concavity ends. At this location, thefluid may enter the apertures in the direction of the fluid path orthose on either side of the concavity if the fluid turns in eitherlateral direction. Example aperture array shapes having a concavityinclude heart shapes, star shapes, some polygons, crescents, andchevrons, to name a few examples.

In some forms, apertures, or arrays thereof, in an apertured web, mayform one or more continuous or semi-continuous patterns, resulting indiscrete “macro” land areas. In such an instance, the discrete macroland areas may function as fluid deposition regions. Fluid moving fromthe discrete macro land areas in any direction may be absorbed into theapertures of the continuous or semi-continuous pattern.

In other forms, the apertures, or aperture arrays thereof, in anapertured web may form linear patterns alternating with continuous orsemi-continuous land areas. The apertured webs may includeunidirectional or multi-directional (and intersecting) aperture oraperture array patterns. Linear aperture or array patterns may beoriented parallel to the longitudinal or lateral axis, or at an anglebetween 0 and 90 degrees, specifically reciting all 0.5 degreeincrements within the specified range and all ranges formed therein,from either the longitudinal or lateral axis. Linear apertures oraperture array patterns may function to restrict fluid movement alongthe apertured web to a greater degree in one direction compared toanother direction.

Additional examples of apertures or arrays thereof in a patterned webare shown in FIGS. 40-53. A patterned web 1000 may comprise an array ofapertures comprising a plurality of patterns 1110A and 1110B withcontinuous or semi-continuous land areas. As shown, a first pattern1110A may comprise a first plurality of apertures which are oriented ina direction which is generally parallel to a machine direction 1675 aswell as a second plurality of apertures which are oriented at multipleangles with respect to the machine direction. Similarly, a secondpattern 1110B may comprise a third plurality of apertures which areoriented at multiple angles with respect to the machine direction 1675as well as a fourth plurality of apertures which are generally parallelto the machine direction 1675. As shown, the apertures of the firstpattern 1110A and/or the second pattern 1110B may be of differentlengths, different angles with respect to the machine direction 1675,and/or different Effective Aperture AREAs. Effective Aperture Areas arediscussed hereafter.

Additionally, at least one or a plurality of apertures in the firstpattern 1110A may be substantially enclosed by the second pattern 1110B,e.g. third plurality of apertures and fourth plurality of apertures. Forexample, the second pattern may form a quilt like pattern, e.g. diamondshaped boundaries or any other suitable shape, with the first patterndisposed within the second pattern thereby forming a unit. Thecombination of the first pattern and the second pattern may repeat sothat there are a plurality of units. Additionally, the first patternwithin the second pattern may be different from one unit to the next.Additional patterns may be utilized. The apertures angled with respectto the machine direction 1675 are believed to aid in fluidacquisition/distribution. For example, fluid moving along the patternedweb 1164 in the machine direction 1675 may be diverted, in part, becauseof the angled apertures.

Referring to FIGS. 39-53, as noted previously, the first pattern 1110Aand/or the second pattern 1110B may comprise a plurality of apertures ofwhich at least a portion are angled with respect to the machinedirection 1675 at a first angle 1680 and another portion are angled withrespect to the machine direction at a second angle 1682. The first angle1680 and the second angle 1682 may be different from one another. Insome forms, the second angle 1682 may be the mirror image of the firstangle 1680. For example, the first angle may be about 30 degrees from anaxis parallel to the machine direction 1675 while a second angle is −30degrees from the axis parallel to the machine direction 1675. Similarly,the first pattern 1110A and/or the second pattern 1110B may comprise aplurality of apertures which are oriented generally parallel to themachine direction 1675. As mentioned previously, apertures which areoriented generally parallel to the machine direction 1675 generally havea lower aspect ratio (discussed hereafter) and larger Effective ApertureAREA (described hereafter) as opposed to those apertures which areangled with respect to the machine direction 1675. It is believed thatthose apertures with increased Effective Aperture AREA allow for quickerfluid acquisitions time. While any suitable angle may be utilized, asdiscussed hereafter, once the first angle 1680 and the second angle 1682are increased beyond 45 degrees from the machine direction 1675 (−45 inthe case of the second angle 1682), the forces of the cross-direction1677 stretching act more along a long axis of the aperture thanperpendicular thereto. So, apertures which are angled more than 45degrees with respect to the machine direction 1675 (−45 degrees in thecase of the second angle 1682) typically comprise less EffectiveAperture AREA than those which are angled to a lesser extent withrespect to the machine direction 1675.

As stated previously, the angled apertures are believed to provideadditional fluid handling benefits for the patterned web 1164. In someforms, greater than about 10 percent of the apertures are angled withrespect to the machine direction 1675. Additional forms are contemplatedwhere greater than about 20 percent, greater than about 30 percent,greater than about 40 percent, greater than about 50 percent, greaterthan about 60 percent, greater than about 70 percent, greater than about80 percent and/or less than 100 percent, less than about 95 percent,less than about 90 percent, less than about 85 percent of the aperturesare angled with respect to the machine direction 1675 including anynumber or any ranges encompassed by the foregoing values.

Referring to FIGS. 40-53, the population density of apertures may begreater nearer a centerline 1690 of the patterned web 1000. For example,interaperture distance between adjacent apertures near the centerline1690 may be a first distance while interaperture distance betweenadjacent apertures further away from the centerline 1690 may be a seconddistance. The first distance may be less than the second distance. As anexample, interaperture distance between adjacent apertures can be about1 mm. As such, the first distance may be about 1 mm while the seconddistance may be about 5 mm or greater. Additional forms are contemplatedwhere the interaperture distance between adjacent apertures increaseswith increasing distance from the centerline. Interaperture distancesare discussed further hereafter.

Additionally, in some instances, apertures nearer the centerline 1690may be angled at the first angle 1680 while apertures further from thecenterline 1690 are positioned at the second angle 1682. The first angle1680 may be greater than the second angle 1682 with respect to thecenterline 1690. For, example, the apertures further from the centerline1690 may be oriented such that they are generally parallel to thecenterline 1690 while the apertures positioned closer to the centerline1690 are angled with respect to the centerline 1690. In some forms, theangle at which apertures are positioned relative to the centerline 1690may decrease as the distance from the centerline 1690 increases. Forexample, a first aperture adjacent the centerline 1690 may be orientedat a first angle of 30 degrees with respect to the centerline 1690,while a second aperture 1 mm from the centerline 1690 may be oriented at20 degrees from the centerline. The apertures positioned furthest awayfrom the centerline 1690 may be generally parallel to the centerline1690. Additional configurations are contemplated where apertures nearthe centerline 1690 are angled to a lesser extent than those furtherfrom the centerline 1690. In some embodiments, the apertures near thecenterline 1690 may be generally parallel to the centerline 1690 whilethe apertures further from the centerline 1690 are angled with respectto the centerline 1690. Feret angles of apertures are discussed furtherhereafter.

As stated previously the lengths of the apertures may vary as well. Inconjunction with being angled as disclosed above or independentlytherefrom, in some embodiments, the apertures adjacent the centerline1690 may be longer than those which are further away from the centerline1690. Similarly, the size of the apertures may vary. Variances inaperture size (Effective Aperture AREA) may be employed in conjunctionwith the variation of aperture angle and/or the variation in aperturelength, or variances in aperture size may be employed independently ofthe variation of aperture angle and/or variation in aperture length. Forthose embodiments where aperture size may vary, larger apertures may bepositioned adjacent the centerline 1690 while apertures having a smallerEffective Aperture AREA are positioned further away from the centerline1690. For example, apertures adjacent the centerline 1690 may have anEffective Aperture AREA of 15 square millimeters while apertures furtheraway from the centerline may have less Effective Aperture AREA, e.g. 1.0square mm. Any of the values/ranges of Effective Aperture AREA providedherein may be utilized for configuring the Effective Aperture AREAvariance described above.

As mentioned previously, the angle of orientation of the aperture canimpact the fluid handling capabilities of the apertured web 1164.Moreover, length of the aperture, width of the aperture, EffectiveAperture AREA, spacing between apertures, as well as aperture densitycan similarly impact fluid handling. However, many of length ofapertures, width of apertures, angle of orientation, spacing and densitycan have competing/negative impacts on the other variables. As statedpreviously, apertures which are at a greater angle to the machinedirection 1675 tend to open less and therefore have less EffectiveAperture AREA than apertures which are either parallel to the machinedirection 1675 or which have a smaller angle with respect to the machinedirection 1675. Similarly, angled apertures which are too closely spacedtogether tend to open less and therefore have less Effective ApertureAREA. As such, Interaperture distance between adjacent angled aperturesmay be increased over that which is between apertures which aregenerally oriented parallel to the machine direction 1675.

Coordinated Patterns

The array of apertures in an apertured web of the present invention maycomprise a pattern or a plurality of patterns which form graphics and/orother depictions, hereafter, “apertured indicia.” The apertured indiciamay coordinate with graphics, indicia, printing, inks, color, and/orpatterned adhesives, for example, located beneath the apertured web orwithin the apertured web. In an instance, the apertured web may be useda topsheet, an outer cover, an ear, or other portion of an absorbentarticle. Each of the heretofore mentioned indicia may be visible from awearer-facing surface, e.g. topsheet, of a disposable absorbent article.In some forms, the heretofore mentioned indicia may be visible from agarment-facing surface, e.g. backsheet, of a disposable absorbentarticle. Still in other forms, the heretofore mentioned indicia may bevisible from both the wearer-facing and garment-facing surfaces of adisposable absorbent article.

The aperture pattern in an apertured web may coordinate with featuresunder it, such as bond sites, material edges, channels, and/ordiscolored or colored materials. In some specific executions, theapertured web may be used to accentuate or block/hide these features.The aperture patterns of a apertured web may also be used to indicatethe correct front vs. rear, left vs. right orientation of an absorbentarticle or other consumer product.

Forms are contemplated where the apertured indicia is coordinated withprinted indicia elsewhere on the product and/or packaging. For example,comprise disposable absorbent article of the present invention maycomprise apertured indicia which provides the appearance of a snowflake.The feminine article may additionally comprise printed indicia elsewhereon the feminine article itself and/or its packaging, wherein the printedindicia provides the appearance of a snowflake. In such embodiments, thefeminine article may comprise a release liner which includes a printedsnowflake pattern and/or be placed in a package comprising a printedsnowflake pattern.

Forms are contemplated where the apertured indicia is coordinated withadhesive indicia, bond indicia, and/or structural indicia. Embodimentsare contemplated where at least two of the following are coordinated onan absorbent article: apertured indicia, adhesive indicia, printedindicia, bond indicia, structural indicia. Similar embodiments arecontemplated with regard to the packaging for the disposable absorbentarticles described herein (including release liners and/or secondarypackaging). Additionally, the aforementioned indicia may be coordinatedacross the absorbent article, its packaging, and/or its secondarypackaging (including release liners) or any combination thereof.

In some specific forms of the present invention, while a portion of thetopsheet may include apertured indicia, other portions of thetopsheet—the non-apertured portion(s)—may include printed indicia whichis coordinated with the apertured indicia. In other embodiments, asub-layer, e.g. acquisition layer, secondary topsheet, and/or absorbentcore may comprise printed indicia which is coordinated with theapertured indicia of the topsheet. Still in other embodiments, thebacksheet may comprise printed indicia which is coordinated with theapertured indicia of the topsheet. Forms are contemplated where aportion of the topsheet includes apertured indicia, the backsheetincludes printed indicia coordinated with the apertured indicia,packaging of the feminine article includes printed indicia coordinatedwith the apertured indicia, a non-apertured portion of the topsheetincludes printed indicia which is coordinated with the apertured indiciaand/or a sub-layer, e.g. acquisition layer, secondary topsheet, and/orabsorbent core comprise printed indicia which is coordinated with theapertured indicia. Similar embodiments are contemplated with adhesiveindicia, structural indicia, bond indicia, and/or any combinationsthereof.

In other specific forms, the topsheet may comprise apertured indicia andfirst printed indicia. The first printed indicia may coordinate withprinted indicia on secondary packaging while apertured indicia maycoordinate with printed indicia on primary packaging for the absorbentarticle.

Indicia is visually coordinated when one or more elements of the indiciahave two or more visual characteristics that are either matched or arecaused to match. As used herein, the term “match” or “matched” is usedto describe the way or degree to which apertured indicia, printedindicia, bond indicia, adhesive indicia, and/or structural indicia, orcharacteristics thereof visually fit together or are caused to fittogether. For example, apertured indicia and printed indicia areconsidered matched if some aspects of the apertured indicia areidentical to similar aspects of the printed indicia. In one form ofmatch, for example, apertured indicia and printed indicia that resembleeach other are said to match. The same can be true for any combinationof the heretofore mentioned indicia. As used herein, the term“coordinate” or “coordination” is used to describe how indicia of theoverall absorbent article and/or its packaging visually belong together.Components or elements are considered to be coordinated if they match,or are caused to match. As used herein, the term “caused to match” isused to describe how any combination of aforementioned indicia are madeto appear matched to one another by using coordinating indicia (anycombination of the above) which has a coordinating feature which tiesthe aforementioned indicia together. For example, if apertured indiciaand printed indicia each have a visual characteristic different from oneanother and coordinating indicia has visual characteristics which matcheach of the apertured indicia and printed indicia, the coordinatingfeature causes the apertured indicia and printed indicia to be matchedto one another.

Additionally, patterns comprising multiple features may be coordinated.As an example, a first array of apertures may be grouped with adjacentbond sites to form a pattern unit. This pattern unit may be repeating.For example, a first pattern unit may be disposed adjacent a first endof an absorbent article while a second pattern unit is disposed adjacenta second end of an absorbent article. As another example, the firstpattern unit may be disposed adjacent a first end of an absorbentarticle while the second pattern unit is disposed adjacent a transverseaxis of the absorbent article. Still another example may compriseadditional pattern units which may be disposed in any suitable locationon an absorbent article. Pattern units may comprise any combination offeatures. For example a pattern unit may comprise apertures, bonds,print, structures, or combinations thereof.

Some examples of coordinated indicia include theme related indicia. Insome embodiments, indicia described herein may be coordinated where atleast two of the indicia, e.g. apertured and printed include at leastone of items generally thought of as lucky, e.g. hearts, stars,horseshoes, clovers, moons (printed indicia may include blue moons),pots of gold, rainbows, balloons, and the like or combinations thereof.Other examples of coordinated indicia include numbers, letters,combinations of numbers and letters; winter themes including snowflakesand/or the like; spring themes including flowers, bees, birds, trees,sun, geometric shapes, squares, rectangles, triangles, oval, circles;curves including uni-radial arcs, multi-radial arcs, spirals, truncatedsinusoidal waves.

Apertured webs of the present invention may be utilized in multipleareas of the disposable absorbent articles described herein. Forexample, in some embodiments, an apertured web of the present inventionmay be utilized as a leg cuff of an absorbent article, a backsheetand/or outer cover, and/or a topsheet. For such embodiments, the arrayof apertures utilized for the topsheet may be coordinated with the arrayof apertures utilized for the leg cuffs and/or backsheet. In someembodiments, the array of apertures in the leg cuff may coordinate withthe array of apertures for the backsheet but not for the topsheet. Inother embodiments, the array of apertures of the backsheet maycoordinate with the array of apertures for the topsheet.

If an apertured web is used as part, or all of, an outer cover(garment-facing layer) of an absorbent article, the aperture pattern orpatterns may provide enhanced breathability in certain regions (e.g.,waist, hips) or reduced breathability in areas over an absorbent core,for example. The aperture pattern or patterns in an apertured web usedas an outer cover may also provide enhanced textures and/or signals incertain regions of the outer cover. Such texture and/or signals mayprovide intuitive instructions on how to property apply the absorbentarticle, where to grip the absorbent article, and/or where/how to fastenthe absorbent article, among other functions, such as to enhancegraphics or aesthetics.

If an apertured web is used as a portion of a fastener (e.g., tapedfastener) of an absorbent article, an apertured pattern of an aperturedweb of the fastener may indicate how to grip and fasten the fastener andindicate when it is and is not fastened correctly. An apertured patternof the apertured web used as a fastener, or portion thereof, maycoordinate with an aperture pattern of an apertured web used as atopsheet and/or an outer cover of the same absorbent article to signal aholistic function.

The optimum balance of bodily exudate acquisition speed and rewet in anabsorbent article comprising an apertured web as a topsheet and/ortopsheet and acquisition system may be derived from a combination ofaperture diameter, shape or area, depth or thickness of the aperturedweb, and the spacing between the various apertures or aperture arrayswithin the apertured web.

An absorbent article comprising an apertured web as a topsheet and/or atopsheet and an acquisition system may comprise a longitudinal axis,much like the longitudinal axis of 590 of FIG. 29. Arrays of aperturesin the apertured web may repeat themselves along a line that is angledabout 20 degrees to about 160 degrees, specifically reciting all 1degree increments within the specified range and all ranges formedtherein, relative to the longitudinal axis. Additionally, there may be aplurality of aperture sizes, shapes, or areas along the line or thespacing between the apertures may not the same between all of theapertures along the line for purposes of channeling liquid bodilyexudates into preferred areas of the absorbent article or the absorbentcore thereof to help avoid leakage.

An aperture pattern in an apertured web may form a recognizable visualelement, such as a heart or a water droplet, for example. An aperturepattern that forms one or more water droplet shapes in an apertured webused as a topsheet or an outer cover of an absorbent article may be usedto aid communication of absorbency and/or wetness. Such a feature may becombined with a wetness indicator of an absorbent article.

Various commonly understood shapes may be created in an apertured web.These shapes may be shapes that have commonly understood properorientations, such as hearts, for example. An example is the use of oneor more hearts on an outer cover or topsheet of a front waist regionand/or a back waist region of a diaper. The caregiver would understandto place the diaper on the wearer with the point of the heart facingtoward the wearer's feet because of the common knowledge of theorientation of hearts.

In an instance, an apertured web may comprise a first non-aperturedlayer comprising a pattern having a color and a second apertured layercomprising a pattern of apertures. The pattern on the firstnon-apertured layer may be printed on the layer, for example, and mayform graphics or other indicia. At least 50% to 100% of the pattern onthe first non-apertured layer may be aligned with the pattern ofapertures in the second apertured layer to draw attention to theapertures. The alignment, or partial alignment, of the pattern ofapertures on the first layer with the pattern having a color of thesecond layer may make aid in aligning the product on a wearer if theapertured web is provided on an absorbent article.

The apertured indicia, printed indicia, adhesive indicia, bond indiciawhen used on a topsheet and/or backsheet of a disposable absorbentarticle, may be utilized to ensure proper alignment of the absorbentarticle. For example, any one of apertured indicia, printed indicia,adhesive indicia, bond indicia, and/or combinations thereof, may beutilized to highlight proper alignment. In one specific example, printedindicia may be utilized to communicate to a wearer the properorientation of a feminine hygiene pad. Proper orientation of thefeminine hygiene pad can reduce the likelihood of leakage.

Additionally, the apertured indicia, printed indicia, adhesive indicia,bond indicia when used on a topsheet and/or backsheet of a disposableabsorbent article may be utilized to highlight features of the absorbentarticle which would otherwise not be noticeable by simple visualinspection of the article. For example, absorbent cores of disposableabsorbent articles are generally disposed between the topsheet and thebacksheet. In many instances, upon visual inspection, a wearer may notbe able to discern the boundaries of the absorbent core which aretypically inboard of the periphery of the absorbent article. In suchinstances, at least one of apertured indicia, printed indicia, adhesiveindicia, bond indicia or any combination thereof, may be utilized tocommunicate the boundaries of the absorbent core. This may provide somereassurance to the wearer regarding the “zone” of absorbency. Still inother configurations, at least one of apertured indicia, printedindicia, adhesive indicia, bond indicia or any combination thereof, maybe utilized to communicate a particular area of the absorbent core. Forexample, an absorbent article may comprise an absorbent core havingvariable absorbing capacity. In such instances, at least one of theapertured indicia, printed indicia, adhesive indicia, bond indicia orany combination thereof, may be utilized to highlight an area of thecore having higher absorbing capacity than other areas. Conversely,apertured indicia, printed indicia, adhesive indicia, bond indicia orany combination thereof, may be utilized to highlight those portions ofthe absorbent core which have lower capacity than another portion of theabsorbent core. Still other executions are contemplated where a firstarray of apertured indicia, printed indicia, adhesive indicia, bondindicia or any combination thereof is utilized to communicate to thewearer a portion of the absorbent core having higher absorbing capacitythan other portions while a second array of apertured indicia, printedindicia, adhesive indicia, bond indicia or any combination thereof areused to communicate to the wearer regarding other portions of theabsorbent core having lower absorbing capacity. In such executions, thefirst array and the second array may or may not be coordinated.

Zones

In any context of an apertured web, but especially in an absorbentarticle context, the apertured webs may be employed in a zonal fashion.For instance, a first zone of a topsheet of an absorbent article mayhave a first apertured web having a first pattern, while a second zoneof a topsheet of an absorbent may have a second apertured web having asecond, different pattern. The patterns in the different zones may beconfigured to receive certain bodily exudates or inhibit or encouragetheir flow in any desired direction. For example, the first pattern maybe better configured to receive and/or direct the flow of urine, whilethe second pattern may be better configured to receive and/or direct theflow of runny BM. In other instances where the apertured webs are usedas a topsheet of an absorbent article, a first apertured web having afirst pattern may be configured to receive heavy gushes of bodilyexudates while a second apertured web having a second different patternmay be configured to restrict lateral bodily exudate flow in any desireddirection. The first pattern may be situated in, for instance, themiddle of the absorbent article or in the crotch region, while thesecond pattern may be situated in the front and rear waist regions orouter perimeter topsheet regions of the absorbent article.

The zones in an apertured web may be positioned in the machinedirection, the cross direction, or may be concentric. If a product, suchas an absorbent article, has two different zones in the machinedirection, the zones may have the same or a similar cross-directionwidth (e.g., +/−2 mm) for ease in processing. One or more of the zonesmay have curved or straight boundaries or partial boundaries.

Any suitable zones, including more than two, of different or the sameapertured webs are envisioned within the scope of the presentdisclosure. The various zones may be in the topsheet as mentioned above,but may also be present on an outer cover or a cuff for example. In someinstances, the same or a different pattern of zones of apertured websmay be used on the wearer-facing surface (e.g., topsheet) and thegarment-facing surface (e.g., outer cover).

In an instance, a topsheet or other portion of an absorbent article mayhave two or more zones in an apertured web. A first zone of theapertured web may have a different aperture pattern than a second zone.The first zone and the second zone may have different functionalitiesowing to the different aperture patterns. A functionality of the firstzone may be to provide liquid bodily exudate distribution (fluid movingon the apertured web), while the functionality of the second zone may beto provide liquid bodily exudate acquisition (fluid penetrating theapertured web). Benefits of such a zoned apertured web can be better useof an absorbent core and more efficient liquid bodily exudatedistribution within the absorbent core. This is especially important ifan air-felt free core is used in that typical air-felt free cores maydistribute liquid bodily exudates to a lesser extent.

In an instance, an absorbent article may comprise an apertured web thatforms a first portion and a second, different portion thereof. Aperturepatterns in each portion of the apertured web may be the same,substantially similar, or different. In another instance, an absorbentarticle may comprise an apertured web that comprises a first portion ofan absorbent article, and wherein a second portion of the absorbentarticle has graphics, printing, patterned adhesives, or other indiciathat forms a pattern that is similar to, substantially similar to,coordinates with, or is different than an aperture pattern in theapertured web.

In an instance, an apertured web may have a plurality of zones. A firstzone may have at least some apertures having a first angle (centrallongitudinal axis of aperture vs. MD), first size, and/or first shape,while a second zone (or third or fourth zone etc.) may have apertureshaving a second, different angle (central longitudinal axis of aperturevs. MD), second, different size, and/or second, different shape.

As stated previously, the apertured webs of the present invention may beutilized in a number of different components of absorbent articles.Referring to FIG. 54, in one specific example, disposable absorbentarticles utilizing the apertured web of the present invention maycomprise a plurality of zones. As shown, a topsheet 2014 of a disposableabsorbent article 2010, may comprise a first zone 2007, a second zone2011 and a third zone 2013. Absorbent articles may comprise more zonesor less zones as described hereafter.

The first zone 2007 may comprise an array of apertures as describedherein. As shown the first zone 2007 may have a width parallel to alateral axis 2090 which does not extend the full width of the topsheet2014. Instead, the second zone 2011 and the third zone 2013 may beplaced on either side of the first zone 2007. In some embodiments, thesecond zone 2011 and the third zone 2013 may comprise a first array ofstructures and a second array of structures, respectively. For theseembodiments, the array of apertures in the first zone 2007 may formapertured indicia which may be coordinated with the array of structuresin the second zone 2011 and/or the array of structures in the third zone2013. In a specific execution, the first zone 2007 comprises an array ofapertures, the second and third zones 2011 and 2013, respectively,comprise an array of structures, wherein the array of structures in boththe second zone 2011 and the third zone 2013 comprise tufts 1770oriented in the Z-direction or negative Z-direction.

Still in other forms, the first zone 2007 may comprise an array ofstructures while the second zone 2011 and the third zone 2013 comprise afirst array of apertures and a second array of apertures, respectively.In such embodiments, the array of structures may be coordinated with thearray of apertures in the second zone 2011 and the third zone 2013.

In some forms, the first zone 2007 may comprise the array of aperturesas well as an array of bonds. The bonds, as mentioned previously, may beconfigured to provide bond indicia. In some embodiments, bond indiciamay be coordinated with the apertured indicia in the first zone 2007. Inother embodiments, bond indicia may be present, in addition to the firstzone 2007, in the second zone 2011 and/or third zone 2013. In suchembodiments, the bond indicia may be coordinated with the aperturedindicia in the first zone 2007 or may be un-coordinated with respect tothe apertured indicia. Adhesive indicia, printed indicia may similarlybe provided in the first zone 2007, the second zone 2011, and/or thethird zone 2013. In such embodiments, the adhesive indicia, printedindicia may be coordinated with the apertured indicia or may beun-coordinated with the apertured indicia. In a specific execution, thefirst zone 2007 comprises an array of apertures forming aperturedindicia and an array of bonds forming bond indicia. The second zone 2011and the third zone 2013 may each comprise an array of structures,wherein the array of structures comprise tufts 1770 oriented in theZ-direction. In such executions, the apertured indicia may becoordinated with bond indicia. In other executions, bond indicia may notbe coordinated with apertured indicia.

In some forms, the first zone 2007, the second zone 2011 and/or thethird zone 2013 may comprise a plurality of indicia selected fromprinted indicia, apertured indicia, adhesive indicia, structuralindicia, and bond indicia. In such embodiments, any combination of theplurality of indicia may be coordinated with indicia within itsrespective zone and/or with regard to one of the other or both zones.

Webs without apertures and webs without patterned apertures maysimilarly comprise variable zones. For example, the first zone 2007 maycomprise printed indicia while the second zone 2011 and the third zone2013 comprise structural indicia. The printed indicia and the structuralindicia may be coordinated. In other examples, the first zone 2007 maycomprise adhesive indicia while the second and the third zones 2011 and2013, respectively, comprise structural indicia. The adhesive indiciamay be coordinated with the structural indicia. In yet another example,the first zone 2007 may comprise bond indicia while the second zone 2011and third zone 2013 comprise structural indicia. The bond indicia may becoordinated with the structural indicia. Still in other forms, the firstzone 2007 may comprise apertured indicia and printed indicia while thesecond zone 2011 and the third zone 2013 comprise structural indicia.The structural indicia may be coordinate with the apertured indiciawhich in turn may be coordinated with the printed indicia.

Other suitable configurations of zones are described with regard toFIGS. 54-58. FIGS. 54-58 may represent a portion of a wearer-facingsurface of an absorbent article, such as a diaper, an adult incontinenceproduct, and/or a sanitary napkin.

FIG. 55 illustrates an example of a substrate having three zones. Thefront portion, F, may be positioned in a front portion of an absorbentarticle or a back portion of an absorbent article. The back portion, B,may be positioned in a front portion of an absorbent article or a backportion of an absorbent article. A first zone 4004 and a second zone4006 may be positioned intermediate two portions of the third zone 4008.The zones 4004, 4006, and 4008 may be provided as separate pieces ofmaterial that are partially overlapped and joined or bonded together ormay be provided as one piece of material. In an instance, the first zone4004 and the second zone 4006 may be provided as one piece of materialor as two pieces of material that partially overlapped and joined orbonded together.

The first zone 4004 may comprise a plurality of three-dimensionalprotrusions as described above with reference to FIGS. 2A-9B. Thethree-dimensional protrusions may extend upwardly out of the page ordownwardly into the page. The second zone 4006 may comprise a pluralityof three-dimensional protrusions as described above with reference toFIGS. 38A-38B. The three-dimensional protrusions may extend upwardly outof the page or downwardly into the page. The second zone 4006 may have adifferent or the same pattern, shape, size, and/or orientation of thethree-dimensional protrusions compared to the pattern, shape, size,and/or orientation of the first zone 4004. The third zone 4008 maycomprise a pattern of apertures, wherein at least two apertures of thepattern of apertures have different sizes, shapes, and/or orientations.The pattern of apertures may be any of the various patterns describedherein or other suitable patterns. A substantially-laterally extendingseparation element, 4010, may extend between the intersection of thefirst zone 4004 and the second zone 4006.

In another instance, still referring to FIG. 55, the first zone 4004 maycomprise a pattern of apertures, wherein at least two apertures of thepattern of apertures have different sizes, shapes, and/or orientations.The pattern of apertures may be any of the various patterns describedherein or other suitable patterns. The second zone 4006 may comprise apattern of apertures, wherein at least two apertures of the pattern ofapertures have different sizes, shapes, and/or orientations. The patternof apertures may be any of the various patterns described herein orother suitable patterns. The second zone 4006 may have a different orthe same pattern of apertures as the first zone 4004. The third zone4008 may comprise a plurality of three-dimensional protrusions asdescribed above with reference to FIGS. 2A-9B. The three-dimensionalprotrusions may extend upwardly out of the page or downwardly into thepage. A substantially-laterally extending separation element, 4010, mayextend between the intersection of the first zone 4004 and the secondzone 4006.

FIG. 56 illustrates an example of a substrate having a first zone 4012and a second zone 4014. The front portion, F, may be positioned in afront portion of an absorbent article or a back portion of an absorbentarticle. The back portion, B, may be positioned in a front portion of anabsorbent article or a back portion of an absorbent article. The zones4012 and 4014 may be provided as two separate pieces of material thatare partially overlapped and joined or bonded together or may beprovided as one piece of material. The first zone 4012 may comprise apattern of apertures, wherein at least two apertures of the pattern ofapertures have different sizes, shapes, and/or orientations. The patternof apertures may be any of the various patterns described herein orother suitable patterns. The second zone 4014 may comprise a pluralityof three-dimensional protrusions as described above with reference toFIGS. 2A-9B. The three-dimensional protrusions may extend upwardly outof the page or downwardly into the page. A substantially-laterallyextending separation element, 4010, may extend between the intersectionof the first zone 4012 and the second zone 4014.

In another instance, still referring to FIG. 56, the second zone 4014may comprise a pattern of apertures, wherein at least two apertures ofthe pattern of apertures have different sizes, shapes, and/ororientations. The pattern of apertures may be any of the variouspatterns described herein or other suitable patterns. The first zone4012 may comprise a plurality of three-dimensional protrusions asdescribed above with reference to FIGS. 38A-38B. The three-dimensionalprotrusions may extend upwardly out of the page or downwardly into thepage. A substantially-laterally extending separation element, 4010, mayextend between the intersection of the first zone 4012 and the secondzone 4014.

FIG. 57 illustrates an example of a substrate having a first zone 4016and a second zone 4018. The front portion, F, may be positioned in afront portion of an absorbent article or a back portion of an absorbentarticle. The back portion, B, may be positioned in a front portion of anabsorbent article or a back portion of an absorbent article. The zones4016 and 4018 may be provided as two separate pieces of material thatare partially overlapped and joined or bonded together or may beprovided as one piece of material. The second zone 4018 may at leastpartially, or fully, surround the first zone 4016.

Still referring to FIG. 57, the first zone 4016 may comprise a pluralityof three-dimensional protrusions as described above with reference toFIGS. 2A-9B. The three-dimensional protrusions may extend upwardly outof the page or downwardly into the page. The second zone 4018 maycomprise a plurality of three-dimensional protrusions as described abovewith reference to FIGS. 38A-38B. The three-dimensional protrusions mayextend upwardly out of the page or downwardly into the page. The secondzone 4018 may have a different or the same pattern, shape, size, and/ororientation of the three-dimensional protrusions compared to thepattern, shape, size, and/or orientation of the first zone 4016.

In another instance, still referring to FIG. 57, the first zone 4016 maycomprise a pattern of apertures, wherein at least two apertures of thepattern of apertures have different sizes, shapes, and/or orientations.The pattern of apertures may be any of the various patterns describedherein or other suitable patterns. The second zone 4018 may comprise aplurality of three-dimensional protrusions as described above withreference to FIGS. 38A-38B. The three-dimensional protrusions may extendupwardly out of the page or downwardly into the page.

In yet another instance, still referring to FIG. 57, the second zone4018 may comprise a pattern of apertures, wherein at least two aperturesof the pattern of apertures have different sizes, shapes, and/ororientations. The pattern of apertures may be any of the variouspatterns described herein or other suitable patterns. The first zone4016 may comprise a plurality of three-dimensional protrusions asdescribed above with reference to FIGS. 38A-38B. The three-dimensionalprotrusions may extend upwardly out of the page or downwardly into thepage.

In another instance, still referring to FIG. 57, the first zone 4016 maycomprise a pattern of apertures, wherein at least two apertures of thepattern of apertures have different sizes, shapes, and/or orientations.The pattern of apertures may be any of the various patterns describedherein or other suitable patterns. The second zone 4018 may comprise apattern of apertures, wherein at least two apertures of the pattern ofapertures have different sizes, shapes, and/or orientations. The patternof apertures may be any of the various patterns described herein orother suitable patterns. The patterns of apertures of the first zone4016 and the second zone 4018 may be different or the same.

FIG. 58 illustrates an example of a substrate having a first zone 4020and a second zone 4022. The front portion, F, may be positioned in afront portion of an absorbent article or a back portion of an absorbentarticle. The back portion, B, may be positioned in a front portion of anabsorbent article or a back portion of an absorbent article. The zones4020 and 4022 may be provided as two separate pieces of material thatare partially overlapped and joined or bonded together or may beprovided as one piece of material. The second zone 4022 may at leastpartially, or fully, surround the first zone 4020.

Still referring to FIG. 58, the first zone 4020 may comprise a patternof apertures, wherein at least two apertures of the pattern of apertureshave different sizes, shapes, and/or orientations. The pattern ofapertures may be any of the various patterns described herein or othersuitable patterns. The second zone 4022 may comprise a pattern ofapertures, wherein at least two apertures of the pattern of apertureshave different sizes, shapes, and/or orientations. The pattern ofapertures may be any of the various patterns described herein or othersuitable patterns. The patterns of apertures of the first zone 4020 andthe second zone 4022 may be different or the same.

Still referring to FIG. 58, the first zone 4020 may comprise a patternof apertures, wherein at least two apertures of the pattern of apertureshave different sizes, shapes, and/or orientations. The pattern ofapertures may be any of the various patterns described herein or othersuitable patterns. The second zone 4022 may comprise a plurality ofthree-dimensional protrusions as described above with reference to FIGS.38A-38B. The three-dimensional protrusions may extend upwardly out ofthe page or downwardly into the page

Still referring to FIG. 58, the second zone 4022 may comprise a patternof apertures, wherein at least two apertures of the pattern of apertureshave different sizes, shapes, and/or orientations. The pattern ofapertures may be any of the various patterns described herein or othersuitable patterns. The first zone 4020 may comprise a plurality ofthree-dimensional protrusions as described above with reference to FIGS.38A-38B. The three-dimensional protrusions may extend upwardly out ofthe page or downwardly into the page

Still referring to FIG. 58, the first zone 4020 may comprise a pluralityof three-dimensional protrusions as described above with reference toFIGS. 38A-38B. The three-dimensional protrusions may extend in apositive Z-direction or in a negative Z-direction. The second zone 4022may comprise a plurality of three-dimensional protrusions as describedabove with reference to FIGS. 38A-38B. The three-dimensional protrusionsmay extend upwardly out of the page or downwardly into the page. Thesecond zone 4022 may have a different or the same pattern, shape, size,and/or orientation of the three-dimensional protrusions compared to thepattern, shape, size, and/or orientation of the first zone 4020.

Some specific examples of absorbent articles comprising zones asdescribed herein are provided with respect to FIGS. 59-65. Thedisposable absorbent article is in the form of a sanitary napkin 2100comprising wings. As shown, the second zone 2011 and the third zone 2013may each comprise an array of structures 2150, e.g. tufts 1770 (shown inFIGS. 38A-38B). Additionally, the second zone 2011 and third zones 2013may comprise an array of bonds 2160 or a plurality thereof. Similarly,the first zone 2007 may comprise an array of bonds 2161 in addition toan array of apertures 2175. As shown, the array of bonds 2160 in thesecond zone 2011 and the third zone 2013 may form bond indicia which iscoordinated with the bond indicia formed by the array of bonds 2161 inthe first zone 2007.

In other executions, the array of bonds 2161 may be comprised in thefirst zone 2007, second zone 2011, and third zone 2013. In suchexecutions, the array of bonds 2161 may collectively form bond indicia.In addition, an as stated previously, the array of apertures 2175 mayform apertured indicia. In some executions, the apertured indicia may becoordinated with the bond indicia. In other executions, the aperturedindicia may not be coordinated with the bond indicia.

In some executions, the number of the bonds 2161 in the first zone 2007adjacent the lateral axis 2090 may be higher than the number of bondsadjacent ends of the sanitary napkin 2100. For example, the sanitarynapkin 2100 may comprise an intermediate area 2193, a first end area2195 and a second end area 2197. Each of the first end area 2195, thesecond end area 2197, and the intermediate area 2193 are each about ⅓ ofthe length of the sanitary napkin 2100. The length of the intermediatearea 2193 is bisected by the lateral axis 2090, may comprise a highernumber of bonds 2161 in the first zone 2007 than in a first end area2195 and a second end area 2197.

In other executions, the first end area 2195 may comprise a first arrayof bonds and the second end area 2197 may comprise a second array ofbonds. Each of the first array of bonds and the second array of bondsmay form bond indicia which may be different than bond indicia formed bya third array of bonds in the intermediate area 2193. The bond indiciain the intermediate zone 2193 may be coordinated with the bond indiciain the first end zone 2195 and/or the bond indicia in the second endzone 2197.

Still in other executions, the bonds 2161 in the first zone 2007 maycomprise bond sites which resemble dots and/or shaped bond sites 2163,2165 which resemble hearts. The bond sites of the bonds 2161 and/or 2160may be shaped in any suitable manner. Any suitable shapes for shapedbond sites 2163, 2165 can be used. Some suitable examples of shapes forthe shaped bond sites 2163 and 2165 include hearts, short lines(dashes), ovals, stars, bows, flowers, squares, triangles, the like, andcombinations thereof. As shown, the shaped bond sites 2163, 2165 may becoordinated with apertured indicia formed by apertures 2175. In otherexecutions, a plurality of shaped bond sites 2163, 2165 may form bondindicia. In such executions, the shaped bond sites 2163, 2165 may becoordinated with the bond indicia. Additionally, in such executions, thebond indicia may be coordinated with the apertured indicia. Still inother executions, the shaped bond sites 2163, 2165 may combine with thebond sites to form bond indicia, e.g. a bowtie.

Still referring to FIGS. 59-65, the bond sites disposed in the first endarea 2195 in the second zone 2011 and third zone 2013 may be greaterthan the number of bond sites disposed in the intermediate area 2193.Additionally, the bond sites in the first end area 2195 and the secondend area 2197 can curve inward toward their respective ends of thesanitary pad 2100. The second end area 2197 may be configured similarlyto the first end area 2195. In such configurations, a width and/orboundary of the first zone 2007 can be masked by the bond sites in thefirst end area 2195 and the second end are 2197. Specifically referringto FIG. 61, the width of the first zone 2007 appears wider in theintermediate area 2193 than in the first end area 2195 and second endarea 2197. That said, the first zone 2007 which can be defined by theapertures (or features as described herein) which are most outboard froma longitudinal axis of the sanitary napkin 2100.

Additionally, this effect can be enhanced by the presence of bond sitesin the intermediate area 2193. For example, referring to FIG. 61, bondsites may be disposed in the second zone 2011 and third zone 2013adjacent a transverse axis of the sanitary pad 2100. However, the bondsites may curve inboard into the first zone 2007 closer to the first endarea 2195 and the second end area 2197. This curving of the bond sitesin the intermediate area 2193 can also help mask the width of the firstzone 2007.

Where the width of the first zone 2007 is defined by the outboard mostapertures, the width of the first zone 2007 can be constant from thefirst end area 2195 to the second end area 2197. The constant width canhelp preclude unequal strain applied to the web during the stretchingprocess described herein. However, the uniform width of the first zone2007 creates some difficulty in highlighting the apertures in theintermediate area 2193. So, the above configuration of bond sites can bebeneficial in highlighting the apertures in the intermediate area 2193.Such above configurations are believed to be beneficial even where thefirst zone 2007 does not have a uniform width.

Referring specifically to FIG. 61—without being limited to sanitarypads—absorbent articles of the present invention may comprise aplurality of portions defined by the zones described with regard to FIG.54 and the end areas defined in FIG. 61. For example, in some forms ofthe present invention, boundaries of the first zone 2007 may becoincident with the most outboard apertures of the first zone 2007 ormay be approximately one third of a transverse width of the absorbentarticle in a flattened position. Similarly, the second zone 2011 andthird zone 2013 may each comprise one third of the lateral width of theabsorbent article. The first end area 2195, second end area 2197, andintermediate area 2193 may each comprise approximately one third of alength of the absorbent article in a flattened state.

In such forms, an absorbent article may comprise several portions: aportion in the first end area 2195 in the second zone 2011; a portion inthe first end area 2195 in the first zone 2007; a portion in the firstend area 2195 in the third zone 2013; a portion in the intermediate area2193 in the second zone 2011; a portion in the intermediate area 2193 inthe first zone 2007; a portion in the intermediate area in the thirdzone 2013; a portion in second end area 2197 in the second zone 2011; aportion in the second end area 2197 in the first zone 2007; and aportion in the second end area 2197 in the third zone 2013. Each ofthese portions may comprise any of the features described herein or anycombination thereof. For example, a portion in the first end area 2195in the second zone 2011 may comprise a plurality of apertures whileanother portion in the first end area 2195 in the first zone 2007comprises a plurality of tufts. In some forms of the present inventionthe portion in the first end area 2195 and the second zone 2011 mayfurther comprise tufts, ridges, grooves, etc.

Without wishing to be bound by theory it is believed that the maskingeffect of the bond sites may be attributable to a higher ΔE* valuecompared to land areas between adjacent bond sites as opposed to the ΔE*value of the apertures compared to the land areas between adjacentapertures. That said, it is further believed that bond site spacing mayalso play a significant role. For example, discontinuous bond sites maynot produce the same masking effect as continuous bond sites. In someforms, embossing may provide a similar effect.

Visual Texture

Apertures, aperture arrays, three-dimensional elements, tufts, ridges,grooves, nubs, printing, patterned adhesives, or any combinations ofthese “texture elements” may impart a variable visually observed texturein an apertured web. Variations in observable textures have beenextensively studied in the psychological and neurological sciences. Somesmall texture elements are much more readily (“instantly”) detected bythe human visual perception system than others. Most texture patternshaving similar “second order” (iso-dipole) statistics cannot bediscriminated in a brief “flash” observation. However, exceptions tothis (i.e., iso-dipole texture elements that are easily discriminated)have been defined and are known in the literature as “textons”.Apertured webs including texture elements forming texton shapes providea way to create easily recognizable “zones” on a laminate or in anabsorbent article, signaling regions having different functions, and/orproviding strong cues as to correct product orientation on a wearer(e.g., front/back). Forms of the apertured webs of the presentdisclosure may include texture elements forming texton shapes, includingquasi-collinearity, corner features, and closure of local features. Areference is Julesz, B., et al, Visual Discrimination of Textures withIdentical Third-Order Statistics, Biological Cybernetics vol. 31, 1978,pp. 137-140).

Effective Open Area

An apertured web may have an Effective Open Area between about 5% toabout 50%, about 5% to about 40%, about 8% to about 35%, about 10% toabout 30%, about 10% to about 25%, about 3% to about 15%, or about 8% toabout 15%, specifically including all 0.1% increments within thespecified ranges and all ranges formed therein or thereby. All EffectiveOpen Area percents are determined using the Aperture Test describedherein. Apertured webs having a higher Effective Open Area may haveutility as a topsheet or acquisition layer or system in an absorbentarticle (more functional to absorbent bodily exudates), while aperturedwebs having a lower Effective Open Area may have utility as an outercover of an absorbent article (more decorative or for breathabilitypurposes). In some forms of the present invention, for hydrophilicwebs—where a body contacting surface is hydrophilic—the percentage openarea can generally be less. For hydrophobic webs—where a body contactingsurface is hydrophobic—the percentage open area may be increased toensure good acquisition rates. As an example, for a hydrophobictopsheet, the percentage open area can be from about 5% to about 50%. Asanother example, for a hydrophilic topsheet, the percentage can be fromabout 1% to about 50%.

Effective Aperture Area

An apertured web may have apertures having an Effective Aperture AREA inthe range of about 0.1 mm² to about 15 mm², 0.3 mm² to about 14 mm², 0.4mm² to about 12 mm², 0.3 mm² to about 10 mm², 0.5 mm² to about 8 mm²,1.0 mm² to about 8 mm², or about 1.0 mm² to about 5 mm², specificallyincluding all 0.05 mm increments within the specified ranges and allranges formed therein or thereby. All Effective Aperture Areas aredetermined using the Aperture Test described herein. A plurality of theapertures in an apertured web may be different in Effective ApertureAreas. The Relative Standard Deviation (“RSD”) of the Effective ApertureAreas may be at least about 20 percent, at least about 30 percent, atleast about 50 percent or at least about 55 percent, or at least about60 percent.

Interaperture Distance and Average Interaperture Distance

The apertured webs or layers thereof may have apertures that have anAverage Interaperture Distance of less than about 3.5 mm, less thanabout 3 mm, less than about 2.5 mm, less than about 2 mm, less thanabout 1.5 mm, less than about 1 mm, in the range of about 1 mm to about6 mm, in the range of about 1 mm to about 5 mm, in the range from about1 mm to about 4 mm, in the range from about 1 mm to about 3.5 mm, in therange of about 1 mm to about 3 mm, in the range of about 1 mm to about2.5 mm, in the range of about 2 mm to about 4 mm, in the range of about3.5 mm to about 10 mm, or in the range of about 0.08 mm to about 11 mm,specifically reciting all 0.1 mm increments within the above-specifiedranges and all ranges formed therein or thereby, according to theInteraperture Distance Test herein.

An apertured web may have Interaperture Distances, calculated accordingto the Interaperture Distance Test herein. The Interaperture Distancesmay have a distribution having a mean and a median. The mean may begreater than, different than, or less than the median. The differencebetween the mean and the median may be in the range of about 1% to about25%, about 4% to about 25%, about 5% to about 20%, about 8% to about20%, about 4% to about 15%, or about 1% to about 8%, for example,specifically reciting all 0.1% increments within the above specifiedranges and all ranges formed therein or thereby. A first zone of anapertured web may have Interaperture Distances. The InterapertureDistances of a first zone may have a first distribution having a firstmean and a first median. The first mean may be greater than, differentthan, or less than the first median by the ranges set forth above inthis paragraph. A second zone of the apertured web may haveInteraperture Distances. The Interaperture Distances of the second zonemay have a second distribution having a second mean and a second median.The second mean may be greater than, less than, or different than thesecond median by the ranges set forth above in this paragraph. A thirdzone of the apertured web may have Interaperture Distances. TheInteraperture Distances of the third zone may have a third distributionhaving a third mean and a third median. The third mean may be greaterthan, different than, or less than the third median by the ranges setforth above in this paragraph. The first, second, and third means may bethe same or different. The first, second, and third medians may be thesame or different. The first, second, and third zones may be in atopsheet, a topsheet layer, an acquisition layer, an outercover, anoutercover layer, or any other component of an absorbent article orother consumer products.

In other instances, a first portion of an absorbent article or otherconsumer product may have a first apertured web that has InterapertureDistances, according to the Interaperture Distance Test herein. TheInteraperture Distances of the first portion have a first distribution.A second portion of an absorbent article or other consumer product mayhave a second apertured web that has Interaperture Distances, accordingto the Interaperture Distance Test herein. The Interaperture Distancesof the second portion have a second distribution. A third portion of anabsorbent article or other consumer product may have a third aperturedweb that has Interaperture Distances, according to the InterapertureDistance Test herein. The Interaperture Distances of the third portionhave a third distribution. The first, second, and third distributionsmay be the same or different. The first distribution may have a firstmean and a first median. The first mean may be greater than, less than,or different than the first median in the range of about 1% to about25%, about 4% to about 25%, about 5% to about 20%, about 8% to about20%, about 4% to about 15%, or about 1% to about 8%, for example,specifically reciting all 0.1% increments within the above-specifiedranges and all ranges formed therein or thereby. The second distributionmay have a second mean and a second median. The second mean may begreater than, different than, or less than the second median by theranges set forth above in this paragraph. The third distribution mayhave a second mean and a second median. The second mean may be greaterthan, different than, or less than the second median by the ranges setforth above in this paragraph. The first, second, and third means may bethe same or different. The first, second, and third medians may be thesame or different. The Relative Standard Deviation (RSD) of theInteraperture Distances may be at least 25%, at least about 35%, atleast about 40%, at least about 50%, or at least about 55%. The MaximumInteraperture Distance in a given web or pattern may be at least about 5mm, at least about 8 mm, at least about 10 mm, or at least about 11 mm.

Average Absolute Feret Angle and Absolute Feret Angle

An apertured web may have one or more apertures having an AbsoluteFerret Angle, according to the Absolute Feret Angle Test, of at leastabout 2 degrees, 5 degrees, 15 degrees, at least about 18 degrees, atleast about 20 degrees, at least about 22 degrees, at least about 25degrees, at least about 30 degrees, at least about 35 degrees, at leastabout 40 degrees, at least about 45 degrees, at least about 50 degrees,at least about 55 degrees, at least about 60 degrees, or in the range ofabout 2 degrees to about 80 degrees, in the range of about 5 degrees toabout 75 degrees, in the range of about 10 degrees to about 70 degrees,or in the range of about 15 degrees to about 65 degrees, specificallyreciting all 0.1 degrees increments within the above-specified rangesand all ranges formed therein or thereby.

An apertured web may have a plurality of apertures having an AverageAbsolute Ferret Angle, according to the Average Absolute Feret AngleTest, of at least about 2 degrees, 5 degrees, 15 degrees, at least about18 degrees, at least about 20 degrees, at least about 22 degrees, atleast about 25 degrees, at least about 30 degrees, at least about 35degrees, at least about 40 degrees, at least about 45 degrees, at leastabout 50 degrees, at least about 55 degrees, at least about 60 degrees,or in the range of about 2 degrees to about 80 degrees, in the range ofabout 5 degrees to about 75 degrees, in the range of about 10 degrees toabout 70 degrees, or in the range of about 15 degrees to about 65degrees, specifically reciting all 0.1 degrees increments within theabove-specified ranges and all ranges formed therein or thereby. Theseapertures may all be within a single repeat unit of the apertured web.

At least two, at least 3, at least 4, at least 5, at least 6, at least7, at least 8, at least 9, or at least 10 of the apertures in anapertured web, or a repeat unit of an apertured web, may each have adifferent Absolute Feret Angle, according to the Absolute Feret AngleTest herein. In other instances, some of the apertures may have AbsoluteFeret Angles that are the same, while other of the apertures may haveAbsolute Feret Angles that are different. In addition to havingdifferent Absolute Feret Angles, the at least two, at least 3, at least4, at least 5, at least 6, at least 7, at least 8, at least 9, or atleast 10 apertures may have different sizes and/or shapes. At least someof the At least two, at least 3, at least 4, at least 5, at least 6, atleast 7, at least 8, at least 9, or at least 10 apertures may also havethe same size and/or shape, while having different Absolute FeretAngles.

Apertures oriented at ferret angles greater than zero relative to themachine direction may have a higher aspect ratio than apertures that arealigned in the machine direction or vice versa. Apertured webs havingelongated apertures oriented at different ferret angles may provideliquid bodily exudate handling benefits when the apertured web is usedas a topsheet in an absorbent article. For example, fluid run-off may bereduced in the front or back of the absorbent article when the aperturesare not all aligned in the machine direction, but instead are orientedat an angle relative to the machine direction (e.g., about 30 degrees,about 45 degrees, or even about 90 degrees) as the apertures can morereadily acquire the liquid bodily exudates. Therefore, it may bedesirable to have the central longitudinal axes of the elongatedapertures oriented at multiple different ferret angles in order to mosteffectively acquire liquid bodily exudates running along the surface ofthe apertured web and prevent, or at least inhibit, run-off and soilingof garments.

In some forms of the present invention, an apertured web may comprise aplurality of apertures wherein a first portion of the apertures have anAbsolute Feret angle of less than about 20 degrees and wherein a secondportion of the apertures have an Absolute Feret angle of greater thanabout 20 degrees. In some forms, the first portion may comprise about50% of the plurality of apertures. In some forms, the first portion maycomprise about 40% of the plurality of apertures. In some forms, a firstplurality of apertures may comprise more apertures than a secondplurality of apertures by a ratio of about 3 to 1 or about 5 to 1. Insome forms, the first plurality of apertures may be disposed about thesecond plurality of apertures.

In some example apertured webs of the present disclosure, a pattern ofoverbonds, each of which is oriented solely in the machine direction, orsubstantially in the machine direction (i.e., +/−5 degrees or less fromthe machine direction), may be used to create an apertured web withapertures having central longitudinal axes that are not all oriented inthe machine direction or, stated another way, that have ferret angles ofmore than 5 degrees with respect to the machine direction. An exampleoverbond pattern having overbonds “0” oriented solely in the machinedirection is contemplated. This overbond pattern may be used to producethe example apertured web 10 of FIG. 3. The apertured web 10 of FIG. 3may have some apertures 12 having a central longitudinal axis, L, havingan angle with respect to the machine direction. The aperture ferretangle may range from about 5 degrees to about 70 degrees, specificallyreciting all 0.5 degree increments within the specified range and allranges formed therein. Some of the apertures 12 in the apertured web 10may also have a central longitudinal axis, L1, that extends parallel to,or substantially parallel to (e.g., +/−less than 5 degrees), the machinedirection. The cross directional stretching step or steps describedherein may be used to create the apertures and to orient the centrallongitudinal axes, L, of at least some of the apertures in a directionnot parallel to, or substantially parallel to, the machine direction. Atleast some of the apertures in an apertured web having their centrallongitudinal axes not parallel to, or substantially parallel to, themachine direction may have a first plurality of apertures having centrallongitudinal axes extending in a first direction with respect to themachine direction and a second plurality of apertures having centrallongitudinal axes extending at a second, different direction relative tothe machine direction. The first and second directions may be 30 degreesand −30 degrees, respectively, 10 degrees and 20 degrees respectively,or −20 degrees and 30 degrees respectively, to provide a few examples.Those of skill in the art will recognize that angles relative to themachine direction are also within the scope of the present disclosure.The Relative Standard Deviation (RSD) of the Absolute Feret Angles maybe at least about 30%, or at least about 40%, or at least about 50%. TheAbsolute Feret Angle of apertures within a repeat unit may differ by atleast about 5 degrees, at least about 10 degrees, at least about 20degrees, or at least about 03 degrees.

The apertures in an apertured web having a central longitudinal axisangled with respect to the machine direction and produced by machinedirection overbonds may be more open (i.e., have a lower aspect ratio)than they would have been if the overbonds had been oriented at an angle(5 degrees or more) with respect to the machine direction. Overbondsoriented at an angle with respect to the machine direction typicallyproduce apertures having higher aspect ratios post cross directionalstretching that are less open.

Example Overbond Patterns for Apertured Webs

Some example schematic representations of overbond patterns that couldbe used on an overbonding roller, like roller 110 of FIG. 13 areillustrated in FIGS. 70 and 71. Those of skill in the art will recognizethat other suitable overbond patterns are also within the scope of thepresent disclosure, along with variations of the illustrated patterns.

Aperture Aspect Ratio and Area

The apertures of the apertured webs of the present disclosure may havean aspect ratio of greater than one, for example, greater than two,greater than 3, greater than 5, or greater than 10, but typically lessthan 15. The aperture patterns in the apertured web may compriseapertures having more than one aspect ratio, such as two or moredistinct populations or having a substantially continuous distributionof aspect ratios having a slope greater than zero. Additionally, theaperture patterns of the apertured webs may comprise apertures with morethan two effective aperture area, either as two or more distinctpopulations or as a distribution of aperture areas having a slopegreater than zero. The Relative Standard Deviation (RSD) of the apertureaspect ratios may be at least about 15%, at least about 25%, at leastabout 30%, or at least about 40%, or at least about 45%.

Fused Portions

Referring to FIG. 36, areas surrounding at least a portion of anaperture 12 in an apertured web of the present disclosure may compriseone or more fused portions 5000. The fused portions 5000 may at leastpartially surround the apertures 12, or fully surround the apertures 12.The fused portions 5000 may surround at least 25% of a perimeter of theapertures 12 up to about 100% of the perimeter of the apertures 12. Insome instances, the fused portions 5000 may be formed on the lateralsides of the apertures 12 and not on the leading and trailing edges ofthe apertures 12 (see MD and CD arrows for reference in FIG. 36). Thefused portions 5000 are believed to be formed during the overbondingstep and are believed to add strength to the apertured webs.

Packages

Absorbent articles comprising the apertured webs of the presentdisclosure may be placed into packages. The packages may comprisepolymeric films and/or other materials. Graphics or indicia relating toproperties of the absorbent articles may be formed on, positioned on,and/or placed on outer portions of the packages. Each package maycomprise one or more absorbent articles. The absorbent articles may bepacked under compression so as to reduce the size or height of thepackages while still providing an adequate amount of absorbent articlesper package.

Accordingly, packages of the absorbent articles according to the presentdisclosure may have an in-bag stack height of less than about 80 mm,less than about 78 mm, or less than about 76 mm, according to the In-BagStack Height Test described herein. Alternatively, packages of theabsorbent articles of the present disclosure may have an in-bag stackheight of from about 72 mm to about 80 mm or from about 74 mm to about78 mm, specifically reciting all 0.5 mm increments within the specifiedranges and all ranges formed therein or thereby, according to theIn-Back Stack Height Test described herein. Further details regardingin-back stack height are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,585,666, toWeisman et al., issued on Nov. 19, 2013.

Arrays of Products

In some forms, arrays of products are contemplated which comprise aplurality of features. For example, a first plurality of absorbentarticles may comprise a first array of features forming indicia, e.g.apertured indicia, adhesive indicia, bond indicia, print indicia,structural indicia. A second plurality of articles may comprise a secondarray of features forming indicia, e.g. apertured indicia, adhesiveindicia, bond indicia, print indicia, structural indicia. In some forms,the indicia provided for the first plurality of articles may bedifferent than the indicia provided for the second plurality ofarticles. In some forms, a third plurality of articles may comprise athird array of features forming indicia, e.g. apertured indicia,adhesive indicia, bond indicia, print indicia, structural indicia. Insome forms, the indicia provided for the third plurality of article canbe different than the indicia provided for the first and the secondplurality of articles. However, in some forms, the indicia between afirst plurality and second plurality may be coordinated while theindicia provided for the third plurality of articles is not coordinatedwith the first plurality and/or second plurality. For example, where thefirst plurality and second plurality of articles are relatedfunctionally. For example, where the first and second plurality ofarticles are the same size, or are the same level of absorbency butdifferent sizes, etc. Still in other forms of the present invention, afirst plurality of products may comprise a plurality of features whichform indicia, e.g. g. apertured indicia, adhesive indicia, bond indicia,print indicia, structural indicia. In such forms, a second plurality ofproducts may comprise a plurality of features which do not createindicia.

Opacity Method

Opacity by contrast ratio measurements are made using a 0°/45°spectrophotometer suitable for making standard CIE L*a*b* colormeasurements (e.g. Hunterlab Labscan XE spectrophotometer, HunterAssociates Laboratory Inc., Reston Va. or equivalent). The diameter ofthe instrument's measurement port should be chosen such that only theregion of interest is included within the measurement port. Analyses areperformed in a room controlled at about 23° C.±2 C.° and 50%±2% relativehumidity. Samples are conditioned at the same condition for 2 hoursbefore testing.

Calibrate the instrument per the vender instructions using the standardblack and white tiles provided by the vendor. Set the spectrophotometerto use the CIE XYZ color space, with a D65 standard illumination and 10°observer. Using cryogenic spray and scissors carefully excise thespecimen from the article for testing. Place the specimen flat againstthe instrument with the outward facing surface toward thespectrophotometer's measurement port and the region of interest withinthe port. Ensure that no tears, holes or apertures are within themeasurement port. Place the white standard tile onto the opposingsurface of the specimen such that it completely covers the measurementport. Take a reading for XYZ and record to 0.01 units. Without movingthe specimen, remove the white plate and replace it with the blackstandard plate. Take a second reading for XYZ and record to 0.01 units.Repeat this procedure at a corresponding site for a total of ten (10)replicate specimens.

Opacity is calculated by dividing the Y value measured using the blacktile as backing, divided by the Y value measured using the white tile asbacking, then multiplying the ratio by 100. Record the opacity value tothe nearest 0.01%. Calculate opacity for the 10 replicates and reportthe average opacity to the nearest 0.01%.

Aperture/Feret Angle Tests

Aperture dimensions, Effective Open Area and Inter-Aperture Distancemeasurements are obtained from specimen images acquired using a flatbedscanner. The scanner is capable of scanning in reflectance mode at aresolution of 6400 dpi and 8 bit grayscale (a suitable scanner is anEpson Perfection V750 Pro from Epson America Inc., Long Beach Calif. orequivalent). The scanner is interfaced with a computer running an imageanalysis program (a suitable program is ImageJ v. 1.47 or equivalent,National Institute of Health, USA). The specimen images are distancecalibrated against an acquired image of a ruler certified by NIST. Asteel frame is used to mount the specimen, which is then backed with ablack glass tile (P/N 11-0050-30, available from HunterLab, Reston, Va.)prior to acquiring the specimen image. The resulting image is thenthreshold, separating open aperture regions from specimen materialregions, and analyzed using the image analysis program. All testing isperformed in a conditioned room maintained at about 23±2° C. and about50±2% relative humidity.

Sample Preparation:

To obtain a specimen, tape the absorbent article to a rigid flat surfacein a planar configuration. Any leg elastics may be cut to facilitatelaying the article flat. A rectilinear steel frame (100 mm square, 1.5mm thick with an opening 60 mm square) is used to mount the specimenTake the steel frame and place double-sided adhesive tape on the bottomsurface surrounding the interior opening. Remove the release paper ofthe tape, and adhere the steel frame to the apertured layer of thearticle. Align the frame so that it is parallel and perpendicular to themachine direction (MD) and cross direction (CD) of the apertured layer.Using a razor blade excise the apertured layer from the underlyinglayers of the article around the outer perimeter of the frame. Carefullyremove the specimen such that its longitudinal and lateral extension ismaintained to avoid distortion of the apertures. A cryogenic spray (suchas Cyto-Freeze, Control Company, Houston Tex.) can be used to remove thespecimen from the underlying layers if necessary. Five replicatesobtained from five substantially similar articles are prepared foranalysis. If the aperture layer of interest is too small to accommodatethe steel frame, reduce the frame dimensions accordingly to accomplishthe goals of removal of the specimen without distortion of the apertureswhile leaving an opening of sufficient size to allow for scanning asignificant portion of the apertured layer. An apertured substrate rawmaterial is prepared for testing by extending or activating it under thesame process conditions, and to the same extent, as it would be for useon the absorbent article, and then in its extended state adhering it tothe steel frame as described above for testing. Condition the samples atabout 23° C.±2 C.° and about 50%±2% relative humidity for 2 hours priorto testing.

Image Acquisition:

Place the ruler on the scanner bed, oriented parallel to the sides ofthe scanner glass, and close the lid. Acquire a calibration image of theruler in reflectance mode at a resolution of 6400 dpi (approximately 252pixels per mm) and 8 bit grayscale, with the field of view correspondingto the dimensions of the interior of the steel frame. Save thecalibration image as an uncompressed TIFF format file. Lift the lid andremove the ruler. After obtaining the calibration image, all specimensare scanned under the same conditions and measured based on the samecalibration file. Next, place the framed specimen onto the center of thescanner bed, lying flat, with the outward facing surface of the specimenfacing the scanner's glass surface. Orient the specimen so that sides ofthe frame are aligned parallel with and perpendicular to the sides ofthe scanner's glass surface, so that the resulting specimen image willhave the MD vertically running from top to bottom. Place the black glasstile on top of the frame covering the specimen, close the lid andacquire a scanned image. Scan the remaining four replicates in likefashion. If necessary, crop all images to a rectangular field of viewcircumscribing the apertured region, and resave the files.

Effective Open Area Calculation:

Open the calibration image file in the image analysis program andperform a linear distance calibration using the imaged ruler. Thisdistance calibration scale will be applied to all subsequent specimenimages prior to analysis. Open a specimen image in the image analysisprogram and set the distance scale. View the 8 bit histogram (0 to 255,with one bin per GL) and identify the gray level (GL) value for theminimum population located between the dark pixel peak of the apertureholes and the lighter pixel peak of the specimen material. Threshold theimage at the minimum gray level value to generate a binary image. In thebinary image the apertures appear as black, with a GL value of 255, andspecimen as white, with a GL value of 0.

Using the image analysis program, analyze each of the discrete apertureregions. Measure and record all of the individual aperture areas to thenearest 0.01 mm², including partial apertures along the edges of theimage. Discard any apertures with an area less than 0.3 mm². Apertureshaving a lower area than 0.3 mm² may prove difficult to measureparticularly when stray fibers cross the boundary of the aperture. Andsuch apertures with that small of an area are considered to contributeinsignificantly to the Effective Open Area. Sum the remaining apertureareas (including whole and partial apertures), divide by the total areaincluded in the image and multiply by 100. Record this value as the %Effective Open Area to the nearest 0.01%.

In like fashion, analyze the remaining four specimen images. Calculateand report the average % effective area values to the nearest 0.01% forthe five replicates.

Effective Aperture Area and Absolute Feret Angle:

Open the calibration image (containing the ruler) file in the imageanalysis program. Resize the resolution of the original image from 6400dpi to 640 dpi (approximately 25.2 pixels per mm) using a bicubicinterpolation. Perform a linear distance calibration using the imagedruler. This distance calibration scale will be applied to all subsequentspecimen images prior to analysis. Open a specimen image in the imageanalysis program. Resize the resolution of the original image from 6400dpi to 640 dpi (approximately 25.2 pixels per mm) using a bicubicinterpolation. Set the distance scale. View the 8 bit histogram (0 to255, with one bin per GL) and identify the gray level (GL) value for theminimum population located between the dark pixel peak of the apertureholes and the lighter pixel peak of the specimen material. Threshold theimage at the minimum gray level value to generate a binary image. In thebinary image the apertures appear as black, with a GL value of 255, andspecimen as white, with a GL value of 0. Next, two morphologicaloperations are performed on the binary image. First, a closing (adilation operation followed by an erosion operation, iterations=1, pixelcount=1), which removes stray fibers within an aperture hole. Second, anopening (an erosion operation followed by a dilation operation,iterations=1, pixel count=1), which removes isolated black pixels. Padthe edges of the image during the erosion step to ensure that blackboundary pixels are maintained during the operation. Lastly, fill anyremaining voids enclosed within the black aperture regions.

Using the image analysis program, analyze each of the discrete apertureregions. During the analysis exclude measurements of partial aperturesalong the edges of the image, so that only whole apertures are measured.Measure and record all of the individual aperture areas, perimeters,feret diameters (length of the apertures) along with its correspondingangle of orientation in degrees from 0 to 180, and minimum feretdiameters (width of the apertures). Record the measurements for each ofthe individual aperture areas to the nearest 0.01 mm², the perimetersand feret diameters (length and width), to the nearest 0.01 mm, andangles to the nearest 0.01 degree. Discard any apertures with an arealess than 0.3 mm². Record the number of remaining apertures, divide bythe area of the image and record as the Aperture Density value. Theangle of orientation for an aperture aligned with the MD (vertical inthe image) will have an angle of 90 degrees. Apertures with a positiveslope, increasing from left to right, will have an angle between zeroand 90 degrees. Apertures with a negative slope, decreasing from left toright, will have an angle between 90 and 180 degrees. Using theindividual aperture angles calculate an Absolute Aperture Angle bysubtracting 90 degrees from the original angle of orientation and takingits absolute value. In addition to these measurements, calculate anAspect Ratio value for each individual aperture by dividing the aperturelength by its width. Repeat this analysis for each of the remaining fourreplicate images. Calculate and report the statistical mean and standarddeviation for each of the effective aperture dimension measurementsusing all of the aperture values recorded from the replicates. Calculateand report the % relative standard deviation (RSD) for each of theaperture dimension measurements by dividing the standard deviation bythe mean and multiplying by 100.

Inter-Aperture Distance Measurements:

The average, standard deviation, median, and maximum distance betweenthe apertures can be measured by further analyzing the binary image thatwas analyzed for the aperture dimension measurements. First, obtain aduplicate copy of the resized binary image following the morphologicaloperations, and using the image analysis program, perform a Voronoioperation. This generates an image of cells bounded by lines of pixelshaving equal distance to the borders of the two nearest patternapertures, where the pixel values are outputs from a Euclidian distancemap (EDM) of the binary image. An EDM is generated when eachinter-aperture pixel in the binary image is replaced with a value equalto that pixel's distance from the nearest pattern aperture. Next, removethe background zeros to enable statistical analysis of the distancevalues. This is accomplished by using the image calculator to divide theVoronoi cell image by itself to generate a 32-bit floating point imagewhere all of the cell lines have a value of one, and the remaining partsof the image are identified as Not a Number (NaN). Lastly, using theimage calculator, multiply this image by the original Voronoi cell imageto generate a 32-bit floating point image where the distance valuesalong the cell lines remain, and all of the zero values have beenreplaced with NaN. Next, convert the pixel distance values into actualinter-aperture distances by multiplying the values in the image by thepixel resolution of the image (approximately 0.04 mm per pixel), andthen multiply the image again by 2 since the values represent themidpoint distance between apertures. Measure and record the mean,standard deviation, median and maximum inter-aperture distances for theimage to the nearest 0.01 mm. Repeat this procedure for all replicateimages. Calculate the % relative standard deviation (RSD) for theinter-aperture distance by dividing the standard deviation by the meanand multiplying by 100.

Land Area Light Transmission Method

The land area light transmission method measures the average amount oflight transmitted through specific regions of a specimen. A calibratedlight transmission image is obtained using a flatbed scanner. A binarymask is generated to separate discrete aperture regions from thesurrounding land area. The binary mask is then registered to the lighttransmission image, and used to exclude the apertures from the land areain the light transmission image. This enables the average lighttransmission value for the land area to be calculated.

Sample Preparation:

To obtain a specimen, tape the absorbent article to a rigid flat surfacein a planar configuration. Any leg elastics may be cut to facilitatelaying the article flat. A rectilinear steel frame (100 mm square, 1.5mm thick with an opening 60 mm square) is used to mount the specimen.Take the steel frame and place double-sided adhesive tape on the bottomsurface surrounding the interior opening. Remove the release paper ofthe tape, and adhere the steel frame to the apertured layer of thearticle. Align the frame so that it is parallel and perpendicular to themachine direction (MD) and cross direction (CD) of the apertured layer.Using a razor blade excise the apertured layer from the underlyinglayers of the article around the outer perimeter of the frame. Carefullyremove the specimen such that its longitudinal and lateral extension ismaintained to avoid distortion of the apertures. A cryogenic spray (suchas Cyto-Freeze, Control Company, Houston Tex.) can be used to remove thespecimen from the underlying layers if necessary. Five replicatesobtained from five substantially similar articles are prepared foranalysis. If the aperture layer of interest is too small to accommodatethe steel frame, reduce the frame dimensions accordingly to accomplishthe goals of removal of the specimen without distortion of the apertureswhile leaving an opening of sufficient size to allow for scanning asignificant portion of the apertured layer. Condition the samples atabout 23° C.±2 C.° and about 50%±2% relative humidity for 2 hours priorto testing.

Light Transmission Image

The light transmission measurement is based on the CIE L*a*b* colorsystem (CIELAB). A flatbed scanner capable of scanning a minimum of 24bit color at 800 dpi and has manual control of color management (asuitable scanner is an Epson Perfection V750 Pro from Epson AmericaInc., Long Beach Calif. or equivalent) is used to acquire images. Thescanner is interfaced with a computer running color management software(suitable color management software is MonacoEZColor available fromX-Rite Grand Rapids, Mich. or equivalent). The scanner is calibratedagainst a color transparency target and corresponding reference filecompliant with ANSI method IT8.7/1-1993 using the color managementsoftware to construct a calibrated color profile. The resultingcalibrated scanner profile is used to color correct an image from a testspecimen within an image analysis program that supports sampling in CIEL*a*b* (a suitable program is Photoshop S4 available from Adobe SystemsInc., San Jose, Calif. or equivalent). All testing is performed in aconditioned room maintained at about 23±2° C. and about 50±2% relativehumidity.

Turn on the scanner for 30 minutes prior to calibration. Deselect anyautomatic color correction or color management options that may beincluded in the scanner software. If the automatic color managementcannot be disabled, the scanner is not appropriate for this application.Place the IT8 target face down onto the scanner glass, close the scannerlid, acquire an image at 200 dpi and 24 bit color and remove the IT8target. Open the image file on the computer with the color managementsoftware. Follow the recommended steps within the color managementsoftware to create and export a calibrated color profile. These stepsmay include, ensuring that the scanned image is oriented and croppedcorrectly. The calibrated color profile must be compatible with theimage analysis program. The color management software uses the acquiredimage to compare with the included reference file to create and exportthe calibrated color profile. After the profile is created the scanresolution (dpi) for test specimens can be changed, but all othersettings must be kept constant while imaging specimens.

Open the scanner lid and place the specimen flat against the scannerglass with the outward facing surface facing the glass. Acquire andimport a scan of the specimen region within the interior of the frameinto the image analysis software at 24 bit color and at 800 dpi intransparency mode. If necessary, crop image to a rectangular field ofview circumscribing the apertured region. Transparency mode illuminatesthe specimen from one side with the sensor capturing the image from theopposite side. Assign the calibrated color profile to the image andchange the color space mode to L*a*b* Color corresponding to the CIEL*a*b* standard. This produces a color corrected image for analysis.Save this color corrected image in an uncompressed format, such as aTIFF file.

Land Area Mask

The boundaries of the apertured areas and land area are identified bythresholding the L* channel image to generate a binary image, separatingapertured areas from the surrounding land area. This binary image willthen be used as a mask on the corresponding light transmission image tomeasure the average Light Transmission Value of only the land area.

To do this, first open the color corrected light transmission image inthe image analysis software. To generate the land area mask, firstseparate the L*, a* and b* channels, and select only the L* channel foranalysis. The L* channel represents the “Lightness” of the image and hasvalues that range from 0-100. Threshold the L* channel image at a valueof 90 to generate a binary image. By thresholding at the level describedabove, a binary mask image is produced with the discrete aperture areasassigned one value, and the surrounding land area assigned a differentvalue. For example, the discrete aperture areas could appear black, andthe surrounding land area could appear white. Save this binary maskimage in an uncompressed format, such as a TIFF file.

Analysis of Light Transmission Image

Open both the color corrected light transmission image and thecorresponding binary mask image in the image analysis software. Toanalyze the specimen light transmission image, first separate the L*, a*and b* channels, and select only the L* channel for analysis. Registerthe light transmission image and the binary mask image to each other.Use the binary mask to exclude the apertures from the light transmissionimage, and calculate an average L* value (Light Transmission Value) forthe remaining surrounding land area. Record this value as the Land AreaLight Transmission Value to the nearest 0.1 units. In like fashion,repeat this procedure on all of the replicate specimens. Calculate andreport the average of the five individual Land Area Light TransmissionValues to the nearest 0.1 units.

Basis Weight Method

Basis weight of the apertured webs may be determined by severalavailable techniques, but a simple representative technique involvestaking an absorbent article or other consumer product, removing anyelastic which may be present and stretching the absorbent article orother consumer product to its full length. A punch die having an area of45.6 cm² is then used to cut a piece of the apertured web (e.g.,topsheet, outer cover) from the approximate center of the absorbentarticle or other consumer product in a location which avoids to thegreatest extent possible any adhesive which may be used to fasten theapertured web to any other layers which may be present and removing theapertured web from other layers (using cryogenic spray, such asCyto-Freeze, Control Company, Houston, Tex., if needed). The sample isthen weighed and dividing by the area of the punch die yields the basisweight of the apertured web. Results are reported as a mean of 5 samplesto the nearest 0.1 cm².

In-Bag Stack Height Test

The in-bag stack height of a package of absorbent articles is determinedas follows:

Equipment

A thickness tester with a flat, rigid horizontal sliding plate is used.The thickness tester is configured so that the horizontal sliding platemoves freely in a vertical direction with the horizontal sliding platealways maintained in a horizontal orientation directly above a flat,rigid horizontal base plate. The thickness tester includes a suitabledevice for measuring the gap between the horizontal sliding plate andthe horizontal base plate to within ±0.5 mm. The horizontal slidingplate and the horizontal base plate are larger than the surface of theabsorbent article package that contacts each plate, i.e. each plateextends past the contact surface of the absorbent article package in alldirections. The horizontal sliding plate exerts a downward force of850±1 gram-force (8.34 N) on the absorbent article package, which may beachieved by placing a suitable weight on the center of thenon-package-contacting top surface of the horizontal sliding plate sothat the total mass of the sliding plate plus added weight is 850±1grams.

Definitions

As illustrated in FIG. 37, a package 1000 defines an interior space 1002and comprises a plurality of absorbent articles 1004. The absorbentarticles are in a stack 1006. The package has a package width 1008. Thepackage width is defined as the maximum distance between the two highestbulging points along the same compression stack axis of the absorbentarticle package 1000.

In-Bag Stack Height=(Package Width/Pad Count Per Stack)×10 absorbentarticles.

Test Procedure

Absorbent article packages are equilibrated at 23±2° C. and 50±5%relative humidity prior to measurement.

The horizontal sliding plate is raised and an absorbent article packageis placed centrally under the horizontal sliding plate in such a waythat the absorbent articles within the package are in a horizontalorientation (see FIG. 37). Any handle or other packaging feature on thesurfaces of the package that would contact either of the plates isfolded flat against the surface of the package so as to minimize theirimpact on the measurement. The horizontal sliding plate is loweredslowly until it contacts the top surface of the package and thenreleased. The gap between the horizontal plates is measured to within±0.5 mm ten seconds after releasing the horizontal sliding plate. Fiveidentical packages (same size packages and same absorbent articlescounts) are measured and the arithmetic mean is reported as the packagewidth. The “In-Bag Stack Height”=(package width/absorbent article countper stack)×10 is calculated and reported to within ±0.5 mm.

The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood asbeing strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead,unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean boththe recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding thatvalue. For example, a dimension disclosed as “40 mm” is intended to mean“about 40 mm”.

All documents cited herein, including any cross referenced or relatedpatent, patent publication, or patent application, is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety unless expressly excluded orotherwise limited. The citation of any document is not an admission thatit is prior art with respect to any invention disclosed or claimedherein or that it alone, or in any combination with any other referenceor references, teaches, suggests, or discloses any such invention.Further, to the extent that any meaning or definition of a term in thisdocument conflicts with any meaning or definition of the same term in adocument incorporated by reference, the meaning or definition assignedto that term in this document shall govern.

While particular forms of the present disclosure have been illustratedand described, those of skill in the art will recognize that variousother changes and modifications can be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention. It is therefore intended to cover inthe appended claims all such changes and modifications that are withinthe scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A disposable absorbent article comprising alongitudinal axis and a lateral axis perpendicular to the longitudinalaxis, a pair of side edges extending generally parallel to thelongitudinal axis and a pair of end edges joining said pair of sideedges on opposite ends of the disposable absorbent article, thedisposable absorbent article further comprising: a topsheet comprising aweb having a length substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis anda width substantially parallel to the lateral axis, the web comprisingan array of apertures forming apertured indicia comprising: (a) a firstplurality of apertures, each of the first plurality of apertures havinga first aspect ratio, (b) a second plurality of apertures each of thesecond plurality of apertures having a second aspect ratio and beingoriented in a first Absolute Feret Angle, and (c) a third plurality ofapertures each of the third plurality of apertures having a third aspectratio and being oriented in a second Absolute Feret Angle, wherein thefirst Absolute Feret Angle and the second Absolute Feret Angle aredifferent, and wherein the first aspect ratio is less than the secondand third aspect ratios; wherein each Absolute Feret Angle is derivedfrom an aperture angle of its length with respect to the lateral axismeasured from 0 and 180 degrees, such that an aperture parallel to thelongitudinal axis is 90 degrees, subtracting 90 degrees from theaperture angle and taking the absolute value of the difference, whereinsome of the first plurality of apertures are disposed on one side of thelongitudinal axis and some of the first plurality of apertures aredisposed on another side of the longitudinal axis, wherein at least aportion of the third plurality of apertures is disposed laterallyoutboard of at least a portion of the second plurality of apertures; abacksheet; and an absorbent core disposed between the topsheet and thebacksheet.
 2. The disposable absorbent article of claim 1, wherein thefirst plurality of apertures comprises more apertures than the secondplurality of apertures in a ratio of about 5 to
 1. 3. The disposableabsorbent article of claim 1, wherein each of the apertures in the firstplurality of apertures, the second plurality of apertures, and the thirdplurality of apertures comprises an Effective Aperture Area betweenabout 0.1 mm² to about 15 mm².
 4. The disposable absorbent article ofclaim 1, wherein the first and second Absolute Feret angles are fromabout 2 degrees to about 80 degrees.
 5. The disposable absorbent articleof claim 1, wherein the web comprises a single layer or a laminate. 6.The disposable absorbent article of claim 5, wherein the single layer orlaminate comprises at least one nonwoven layer.
 7. The disposableabsorbent article of claim 1, further comprising a first plurality ofdiscrete bonds and a second plurality of discrete bonds joining thetopsheet and the absorbent core, the first plurality of discrete bondsand the second plurality of discrete bonds being disposed generallyparallel to the longitudinal axis.
 8. The disposable absorbent articleof claim 7, further comprising a third plurality of discrete bonds and afourth plurality of discrete bonds joining the topsheet and theabsorbent core, the third plurality of discrete bonds and the fourthplurality of discrete bonds being disposed more proximal to at least oneof the pair of end edges than the first plurality of discrete bonds andthe second plurality of discrete bonds.
 9. The disposable absorbentarticle of claim 8, further comprising a fifth plurality of discretebonds disposed between the third plurality and the fourth plurality ofdiscrete bonds.
 10. The disposable absorbent article of claim 9, furthercomprising a secondary topsheet disposed between the topsheet and theabsorbent core.
 11. The disposable absorbent article of claim 8, whereinthe discrete bonds of at least one of the third plurality or the fourthplurality of discrete bonds are laterally and longitudinally offset fromone another.
 12. The disposable absorbent article of claim 9, whereinthe discrete bonds of the fifth plurality of discrete bonds arelongitudinally offset from one another.
 13. The disposable absorbentarticle of claim 7, wherein the discrete bonds of the first and secondplurality of discrete bonds are longitudinally and laterally offset fromone another.
 14. The disposable absorbent article of claim 8, whereinthe discrete bonds of the first and second plurality of discrete bondsare longitudinally and laterally offset from one another.
 15. Thedisposable absorbent article of claim 1, wherein the first plurality ofapertures comprises a first interaperture distance between adjacentapertures, wherein a distance between the first plurality of aperturesand the second plurality of apertures is greater than the firstinteraperture distance.
 16. The disposable absorbent article of claim 1,wherein the first plurality of apertures comprises a first interaperturedistance between adjacent apertures, wherein a distance between thefirst plurality of apertures and the second plurality of apertures isgreater than the first interaperture distance.